Bob Dylan draft lyrics found inside book expected to sell for up to £40,000

Lyrics written by Bob Dylan and found tucked inside a poetry book will go up for auction and could sell for up to £40,000.

The torn page contains type-written draft lyrics with a number of amendments to Dylan’s song I’m Not There from his 1967 Basement Tapes sessions.

The song was only released decades later, in 2007, as part of the soundtrack for the Todd Haynes film about the songwriter.

The lyrics were discovered inside a first edition poetry book by Allen Ginsberg who was a long-time friend of the singer.

It is believed to have been hidden away in the book, Ankor Wat, since Ginsberg gifted it in 1969 to model Sally Grossman – another friend of Dylan’s and the wife to his first manager, Albert Grossman.

The book also includes a signature and inscription by Ginsberg to Sally who famously featured on the cover of his 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home.

The lyrics and the book will go under the hammer on April 21 with Omega Auctions and are expected to sell for between £20,000 and £40,000.

Dan Muscatelli-Hampson of Omega Auctions said: “This is a remarkable discovery and one that is sure to provoke great excitement amongst the Dylan scholars, fans and collectors around the world.

“The provenance story is fascinating, not least because the book had passed through several hands before our vendor was eventually the lucky owner who carefully leafed through the book to find this exceptionally rare page hidden inside.”

Dylan is one of the most acclaimed songwriters of all time, winning 10 Grammys and being nominated on 38 further occasions.

He began his career in 1962 with the single Mixed-Up Confusion, which failed to chart in the UK and US. But he shot to stardom with a string of successful singles in 1965, including The Times They Are A-Changin’, Subterranean Homesick Blues and Like A Rolling Stone.

He has since had six UK top 10 singles and nine UK number one albums.

Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016.

The singer-songwriter was recently portrayed by Marty Supreme actor Timothee Chalamet in the biopic A Complete Unknown.