John Lennon's schoolboy sketches sell for $226,000

LONDON, Apr 20 (Reuters) One of John Lennon's schoolbooks sold for 126,500 pounds (226,000 dollars) at a London auction late, more than 50 years after the former Beatle filled it with colourful sketches and poems.

Lennon was only 12 when he made the 10-page book of drawings in pen, pencil and watercolours alongside handwritten verses from classic English poems.

Auction house Cooper Owen said it was a ''vibrant example of the emerging artistic talent'' of the Liverpool schoolboy, who went on to sell millions of records with the Beatles. A spokesman declined to name the buyer or the seller.

The collection, called ''My Anthology'', includes an illustrated verse from the British poet Lewis Carroll's work ''The Walrus and the Carpenter''.

Cooper Owen said the poem formed part of the inspiration for the surreal Beatles song ''I Am the Walrus''.

REUTERS SC PM0448