PREVIEW

The original typed and annotated draft lyrics to Bob Dylan’s Mr. Tambourine Man are set to sell at auction for as much as $600,000.

Julien’s Auctions has announced an extraordinary auction event for Dylan fans with deep pockets - Celebrating Bob Dylan: The Aronowitz Archive, T Bone Burnett, & More.

The auction will take place on Saturday, 18 January 2025, at the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.

The collection includes 60 rare items, with 50 from the personal archive of journalist Al Aronowitz, who played a pivotal role in 20th-century music history.

Among the highlights are the two pages containing three progressive typewritten drafts of the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s iconic song Mr. Tambourine Man, estimated to fetch between $400,000 and $600,000.

Other treasures include an early Dylan oil painting from 1968 (estimate: $200,000–$300,000), a 1963 handbill from Dylan’s first major headline performance at New York’s Town Hall (estimate: $1,500–$2,000), vintage photographs, original sketches, and much more.
Additional items of note include a 1983 Fender Telecaster custom-made for and owned by Dylan (estimate: $80,000–$120,000) and signed, handwritten lyrics for “Blowin’ in the Wind” (estimate: $15,000–$20,000).

Another centrepiece of the auction is a one-of-a-kind Ionic Original disc of Bob Dylan’s recent studio recording of The Times They Are A-Changin”, produced by multi-Grammy-winning producer T Bone Burnett. This unique disc is expected to sell for $400,000–$600,000 and represents only the second public sale of an Ionic Original recording, following Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind in 2022.

Speaking about the archive, Myles Aronowitz, son of Al Aronowitz, said: “My father was more than a journalist; he was a connector of icons. He introduced Allen Ginsberg to Bob Dylan, Dylan to The Beatles, and even brought Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis together.

“His magic wasn’t just in his writing but in the way he shaped culture itself. This collection showcases his instinct for greatness and the magical connections he fostered. Each item offers a glimpse into the room where history happened.”

In anticipation of the auction, a special exhibition will showcase highlights from the Al Aronowitz collection.

Running from Wednesday, 18 December 2024, to Friday, 17 January 2025, the exhibit will include items such as Dylan’s signed harmonica, the original Mr. Tambourine Man lyrics, the 1968 oil painting, the Fender Telecaster, and a screen-worn Levi’s jacket from Dylan’s 1987 film Hearts of Fire. This marks the only public viewing of the entire collection before the auction.

The auction begins at 10 a.m. CST on 18 January 2025. Full details, including photographs and descriptions of all items, are available through Julien’s Auctions.