Hunter Davies gives Beatles collection to British Library

Hunter Davies, author of THE BEATLES: THE AUTHORISED BIOGRAPHY and THE JOHN LENNON LETTERS has handed over his extensive collection of The Beatles early, handwritten, song lyrics to the British Library. The collection, which includes 'Strawberry Fields Forever', 'She Said, She Said' and 'In My Life' will now be displayed alongside such pieces as Magna Carta and the First Folio of Shakespeare.

"In the 1960s, these were of interest to me, the final versions of songs I'd seen the genesis of in the Beatles' homes, but they had absolutely no value," Davies said as he handed them over to the British Library. "Now I could have sold them for a fortune, obviously – but then they'd just have gone into some American billionaire's bunker and never been seen again. I wanted them out where people can see and enjoy them." 

Hunter Davies is the only author to have written an authorised biography of The Beatles and is a prolific journalist, broadcaster and author. His forthcoming book THE BEATLES LYRICS will be released in 2014 by Weinfeld & Nicolson.