Lennon, Dean 'Doodles' on Auction Block

June 26, 2001 -- Not everyone can afford to shell out $2.1 million for a John Lennon collectible, as George Michael did when he bought the piano on which the late Beatle had composed "Imagine." Collectors with smaller bank accounts may be able to acquire something less expensive and easier to fit into your apartment. Various "doodles" and notes made by the slain music legend in preparation for a play were put up for sale by a London autograph dealer today, with bidding beginning at a mere $35,300.

Fraser's Autographs describes the 36 lines, written on the front and back of a sheet of cardboard, as including the original working draft of Lennon's subversive version of Queen Elizabeth II's annual speech, which was banned from the play "In His Own Write," based on the musician's critically acclaimed books.

Other celebrity doodles that hit the auction block today are six cocktail napkins that '50s actor James Dean sketched upon. Sotheby's of New York City expects the napkins, from the long-gone Googie's Coffee Shop on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, to sell for between $15,000 and $20,000. The Rebel Without a Cause star met an untimely death in a 1955 car crash.

Reuters contributed to this story.