Bob Dylan, an original manuscript reappears after 60 years

Six decades later, an authentic relic of rock history reemerges from the shadows: the autographed lyrics of “I’m Not There”written in his own hand by Bob Dylan. The precious document dates back to 1967, the year of the legendary sessions of the Basement Tapes held in Woodstock, during which the singer-songwriter collaborated with the musicians who would later give life to The Band.

The song is considered one of the most fascinating and mysterious tracks of Dylan’s entire discography. Although it remained officially unpublished for a very long time, its cultural importance was such that it inspired the title of Todd Haynes’ 2007 biopic of the same name, in which different actors played various facets of the artist.

The text was found in a copy of Ankor Watthe poetic meditation of Allen Ginsberg about time, ruin and spirituality composed after one of his last trips to Asia. The signed book had been given by Ginsberg himself to Sally Grossman, the wife of Dylan’s historic manager, Albert Grossman. The woman, who appears on the cover of Bringing It All Back Homedied in 2021 and upon her passing that volume ended up in the hands of a rare book dealer: leafing through the pages, the typed piece of paper emerged.

The autograph texts of the Nobel Prize winner for literature continue to record extraordinary results on the market. Just last year, typed drafts of Mr. Tambourine Man they sold for over $500,000 at Julien’s Auctions. Other manuscripts have reached even higher figures: from the $2 million paid by Sotheby’s for the only known draft of Like a Rolling Stone to the $2.5 million paid last March by Christie’s for the penciled lyrics of the 1964 folk anthem The Times They Are A-Changin’.