As most informed Beatles fans probably know, the cover of the group’s iconic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was designed by artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth based on a sketch by Paul McCartney, although the entire band was involved in the design process in one way or another. It seems now that John Lennon at least had some ideas about the image’s composition as well, since a rough sketch of the cover by the musician has been revealed and is now up for auction (via BoingBoing).

Julien’s Live is in charge of the auction, and while the starting bid for this significant piece of music memorabilia is $10,000, they expect the 4.5″ by 4.5″ drawing to ultimately sell for somewhere between $40,000 and $60,000. Take a look at it below:

The auction site notes that “it is unknown how this undated drawing figures into the history of the album cover and Lennon’s involvement.” That said, this drawing does look a lot like what the final album art ended up as, so perhaps this was a final stage of the band deciding on the layout with each other, or perhaps he was just quickly showing a confidante what his band’s next album would look like. Whatever the case, the illustration was found in a sketchbook by the owners of Lennon’s former home in Surrey, England, and it’s a pretty neat piece of newly discovered music history.

Is this your favorite Beatles album cover of all time, or does another one capture your eye just a bit more? Head to the comments below and share your thoughts!

Images: Capitol Records, Julien’s Live