International

The earliest known letter written by John Lennon is expected to fetch more than £30,000 at auction next month.

The 11-year-old Lennon put pen to a fold-out note card shortly after Christmas 1951 to thank his Aunt Harriet for her presents, including a book about famous ships.

Lennon wrote to family and friends throughout his Beatles career but the thank-you note – with a few grammatical errors – to his mother ’s younger sister is his first known letter.

He wrote: “Dear Harrie Thankyou for the book that you sent to me for Christmas and for the towel with my name on it, And I think it is the best towel I’ve ever seen.

“The book that you sent to me is a very interesting one. I am at the bottom of page 18 at the moment. The story is famous Ships its all about a man called Captain kidd the pirate. I am on the second chapter, the first chapter is called the Victory and the second is called the Mary Celeste.

“Thankyou for the red jumper that you sent to me.

“I hope you have a happy new year. Love from John x”.