Vintage ballpoint signatures and inscriptions, “To Diane, with love from George Harrison, x,” and “and love to Diane, from John Lennon, x,” on an off-white 5.75 x 7 sheet. In very good to fine condition, with edge toning, intersecting folds, and light creasing.
The autographs were obtained during the Beatles' stay at the Academy of Meditation in Shankaracharya Nagar, Sawargashram, Rishikesh, India, with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at some point between February 15th and April 12, 1968. The Beatles had traveled to the country to attend an advanced transcendental meditation program at the ashram after they had previously met the Maharishi in Bangor, Wales, in August 1967. Beatles autographs signed at the Maharishi’s camp in India are supremely rare, as the Beatles were either busy writing songs or meditating and were not approached by other attendees or employees of the ashram for their autographs.
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Tracks and by a letter from the niece of the original recipient: “It was 1968 that my uncle, Tony Rittendale, dropped everything at his Las Vegas pit boss job to join the Maharishi in India as an initiator to teach people how to meditate. There were so many famous people there at the time, The Beatles, Mia Farrow, The Beach Boys. Many others. In one of the sessions, he asked John and George to sign an autograph ‘for Diane’! I’ve had it ever since.”
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