John Lennon’s personal copy of a Beatles album Yesterday and Today with accompanying hand-drawn sketches is expected to fetch more than $200,000 as it prepares to go on sale.

The rare pre-production copy of the record features the infamous butcher cover – thought to be one of the only remaining copies in the world after management ordered the controversial cover to be destroyed – will go up for auction on November 11 in Dallas, Texas.

The cover is signed ‘To Dave, from John Lennon’ dated December 7, 1971 after Lennon handed the record to Beatles fan and collector, Dave Morrell, in exchange for some memorabilia and bootleg material.

Gary Shrum, the director of music memorabilia at Heritage Auctions, said: ‘The term world-class is probably a bit over-used in describing collectibles, however, labelling this unique, rare, and desirable Beatles item as world-class is not hyperbole.

‘This piece is rare because one it’s the butcher cover that was withdrawn and never sold on the market after the second day. It’s John Lennon’s personal copy, it’s a prototype that had a blank back, which John did artwork on the back of.

‘Plus it’s a stereo copy which was the rarest of the butcher covers, because only a few stereo copies got out when they were for sale.

‘So this is a brilliant piece for any Beatles collector or Rock and Roll collector that likes to collect the history of music.’