John Lennon's ‘smutty' love letter to future wife revealed

Telegraph

2 days ago

A 'smutty' love letter by John Lennon to his future wife – including his complaints about Paul McCartney's snoring – has emerged 63 years on.
The Beatle, then aged just 21, wrote to art student Cynthia Powell telling her how much he missed her while the band were in the middle of their Hamburg stint in April 1962.
The letter, written over five nights of concerts in the city, touched on various themes, including the sudden death of former bandmate Stuart Sutcliffe the week earlier.
The note also featured an amusing moan from Lennon about McCartney's 'snoring' in the bunk bed above his.
In the letter, signed by Lennon and written between April 19-24 1962, he wrote: 'Paul's leaping about on my head (he's in a bunk on top of me and he's snoring) ... Shurrup Mcarntey [sic]!'
The musician then confides in Powell that he had avoided Astrid Kirchherr, Sutcliffe's German fiancee, because 'I would be so awkward'.
He then shot down Cynthia's plan to move in with Dot Rhone, McCartney's girlfriend, as it would have caused a lack of privacy when he and Powell were in bed together.
'Sunday papers and chocies'
The letter said: '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 [sic] and a throbber.'
'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.'
It went on: 'I don't like the idea of Dot moving in permanently with you cause we would never be alone really ... imagine having her there all the time when we were in bed – and imagine Paul coming all the time.
'...I love you, please wait for me and don't be sad and work hard, be a clever little Cyn Powell.'
John and Cynthia, who was a year older than him, had been in a relationship for four years, having met at Liverpool College of Art.
They married in August 1962 and had their son Julian in April 1963, weeks after 'Beatlemania' exploded with the release of the band's chart-topping first album Please Please Me.
The pair divorced in 1968 and Powell later claimed Lennon had physically abused her throughout their relationship, including slapping her face in a fit of jealousy.
The handwritten letter, described as one of the finest ever written by the singer, was sold by Powell to a Swedish collector in 1991 after she fell on hard times and needed to raise money.
It then changed hands to the Swedish vendor in 1993.
It will be on sale at Christie's auction with a £30,000 to £40,000 estimate.
Thomas Venning, the head of books and manuscripts at Christie's, said: 'Reading the letter you get the sense of two young people in love, with no idea of what was going to happen to them, which makes it really compelling and historical.
'They are very unfiltered and you can hear him using his own voice.
'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.'
The sale takes place on July 9.