Lot 231
  • 231

Lennon, John

Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Lennon, John
  • Autograph manuscript of 'The Faulty Bagnose'
  • ink on paper
fair copy of the poem, 35 lines in 7 numbered five-line stanzas, with one revision to l.22, written in two columns with the title at the foot of the page, 1 page, oblong folio (177 x 253mm), [1964/65], creased, light stain 

Condition

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Like many other compositions in A Spaniard In The Works, where it appears on pp.34-36, this exuberant piece of nonsense verse expresses Lennon's antipathy to established religion. As Lennon explained in his 1971 interview with Red Mole: "even though [In His Own Write and Spaniard] were written in a sort of Joycean gobbledygook, there's many knocks at religion ... I've been satirising the system since my childhood." Distortions and garbled echoes of Christian phrases, imagery, history, and acts of worship are crammed into the poem's seven stanzas:

"Give us thisbe our daily tit
Good mungle on yer travelled
A goat of many coloureds
Wilberneth all beneath unravelled
And not so MUCH OF YER FAULTY BAGNOSE!"