AI Governance
Data Centers
Drones
Climate
Privacy
2026 Maine Senate
Bob Dylan
Dylan Draft Lyrics Head To Auction
Coverage from Artnet News, Hypebeast, and others
A working lyric draft for Bob Dylan's "I'm Not There" was found inside a first-edition copy of Allen Ginsberg's Ankor Wat formerly owned by Sally Grossman, a close associate of Dylan and wife of manager Albert Grossman.
The draft is associated with Dylan's 1967 work with The Band and is being offered through Omega Auctions with an estimated value of £20,000 to £40,000. The story combines unusual provenance with continuing collector interest in documents that show how unreleased or later-released songs developed.
The update mainly clarifies the song’s provenance and framing, adding Albert Grossman to the ownership context and tying the draft more explicitly to the Basement Tapes period. It does not materially change the core auction story or valuation.
The story adds auction timing and slightly sharper provenance details, including that the book was reportedly given to Sally Grossman by Ginsberg in 1969 and later sold from her estate. The manuscript's context is otherwise unchanged.
The story has sharpened from a general rediscovery/provenance narrative into a more concrete auction item description, adding the manuscript's physical characteristics and a specific estimated value. It also now explicitly ties the draft to the 2007 film soundtrack release, reinforcing its collector significance.
The story is mostly unchanged, but the latest coverage adds a stronger framing of the draft as archival primary evidence for Dylan's lyric development and collector value. It also newly ties the song's broader visibility to Todd Haynes' 2007 film context.
Recent coverage is dominated by the rediscovery and auction of a rare working lyric draft for Bob Dylan's I'm Not There. The item's value comes from its clear provenance trail through Allen Ginsberg, Sally Grossman, and Albert Grossman, plus its connection to Dylan's 1967 Basement Tapes-era writing and the song's later 2007 release.