A frank, personal 1962 letter from John Lennon to future first-wife Cynthia Powell will be auctioned in London in July.
The young Beatle was in Hamburg, where in the bunk above him, Paul McCartney’s snoring was proving a trial.
He also missed his partner, writing: “I love love love you and I’m missing you like mad… I wish I was on the way to your flat with the Sunday papers and chocies and a throbber.”
The Beatles played five residencies in Hamburg. The period was vital in their development, bonding them as a close-knit group of friends, and turning them into a hard-driving live band through long sessions in Hamburg’s dock-side clubs.
It was also tragic.
Stuart Sutcliffe, John Lennon’s great friend – and a better painter than he ever was musician – died in the city on April 10, 1962.
He stayed in the city after an earlier Beatles trip to marry Astrid Kirchherr, a German Beatles fan and photographer who created some of the most famous images of the young band.
On their arrival for this residency, Kirchherr met the band at the airport and told them their friend had died.
The letter is frank and charming, but Cynthia has preserved some privacy by cutting out a couple of phrases. Image courtesy of Christie’s.
The letter was written between April 19 and April 24 over several nights, between shows.
Lennon writes: ““I wonder why all the newspapers wrote about Stu … I haven’t seen Astrid since the day we arrived I’ve thought of going to see her but I would be so awkward.”
He complains about McCartney’s snoring and warns Cynthia that if his bandmate’s girlfriend, Dot Rhone, moves into her flat they will never get any time alone.
Cynthia Powell and John Lennon had been in a relationship since 1958. They were to marry in August 1962, and their son, Julian, was born in April 1963.
The relationship failed to survive The Beatles’ success. They divorced in 1968, and John Lennon was physically abusive.
Head of books and manuscripts at Christie’s, who are handling the sale on July 9 in London, told the Guardian: “There are some smutty and funny bits and you sense his personality on the page, unlike his later letters which are more guarded and preachy. It provides an early insight into the Beatles from their time in Hamburg which was so important to their development as a band.”
Parts of the letter, which has been published in a Hunter Davies-edited collection, were evidently too frank, and a couple of lines have been cut out by Cynthia.
The letter was sold by Cynthia Lennon in 1991, and subsequently to the Swedish collector who is selling it now with an estimate of £30,000 to £40,000.
