NEW YORK.- Sothebys.com and Gotta Have It!® Auctions are will present a very special online sale of Beatles memorabilia tracing the careers of the "Fab Four." The sale will feature more than 100 lots, offering collectors at all levels the opportunity to participate. Bidding will begin on Thursday, April 25th and continue through Thursday, May 9th. A selection of items will be included in an exhibition at Sotheby’s in New York from April 25 to May 2.



"This sale represents what is perhaps the last great collection of Beatles memorabilia in private hands," commented Robert Schagrin, co-founder of Gotta Have It!® Collectibles. "These lots being offered span the lives and careers of the most important figures in the history of Rock and Roll."



Chief among the highlights in this sale is a Steinway & Sons upright piano owned by John Lennon. Delivered on May 9th, 1979 to the Dakota apartment he shared with Yoko Ono, this was the last piano purchased by John Lennon before his untimely death. Estimated to sell for $400,000 to 600,000, this piano was part of a PolyGram Records promotional contest whereby purchasers of a Yoko Ono album in 1985 could register to win this piece of Rock and Roll history. The lucky winner, a North Dakota native named Sandy Dejoras, received confirmation of her good fortune in March of 1985 and kept the piano in her possession until selling it to a private collector in April of 1996. This exceptional lot comes with supporting documentation from Steinway & Sons, a hand-written note from Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon on "Imagine" stationery to the winner, a letter from the law firm representing the John Lennon estate certifying the authenticity of the piano, and the letter from PolyGram confirming the contest.



This spectacular sale also features the brown wool suits with black velvet lapels worn by The Beatles on the cover of their first LP, "Please, Please Me." These 1963 artifacts, which are currently on exhibition at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio and were included in the "Rock Style" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, are estimated to sell for $230,000 - 280,000.



Just a few years later, in 1967, The Beatles won the Grammy Award for "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band," Album of the Year. Included in this auction is the award, which was accepted on behalf of The Beatles by their attorney Nat Weiss (est. $80,000 - 100,000).



Also remarkable is John Lennon’s portable recording studio and electric piano. Sold as two lots, these are estimated to sell for $12/15,000 and $30/40,000, respectively.



One of the earliest pieces of Beatles memorabilia in this collection is George Harrison’s boyhood guitar. Estimated to bring $40,000 to 60,000, this lot includes a photo of Harrison playing this guitar at age 10. It is currently on exhibition at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.



Another fascinating piece of history is a visitors book signed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney December 22, 1958 while they were playing together as the "Quarry Men" (est. $25/30,000).



Other fabulous highlights include Paul McCartney’s jacket from "Help" (est. $35/40,000), John Lennon’s 1959 job application (est. $12/15,000), Ringo Starr’s jacket from the 1965 Shea Stadium concert (est. $25/30,000) and John Lennon’s fingerprints signed to David Peel in 1965 (est. $12/15,000).