HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE- ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE?
Ringo’s drumhead for the Beatles first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show:
Auction catalogs have always held a strong fascination for me especially as it relates to Beatles-related items.
I recently learned from one of my blog subscribers about the Jim Irsay collection, the late owner of the Indianapolis Colts was going to have many of his pop-culture artifacts auctioned off by Christie’s auction house in March of 2026.
Some biographical information about James (Jim) Irsay from Wikipedia
“James Irsay (June 13, 1959 – May 21, 2025) was an American billionaire businessman who was the principal owner, chairman, and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL) from 1997 until his death in 2025.”
The news of the auction:
I became instantly intrigued. Not because I could afford any of the wonderful high-ticket Beatles items that Mr. Irsay had acquired in his extensive collection over the years but I was now getting the opportunity to view the items in my own copy of the photographs of the magnificent items going up for auction by purchasing the Christie’s auction catalog which I was able to find before the auction. A viewer of this blog post was disappointed after the original link that was used to purchase my copy of the auction catalog was apparently no longer offering it once the auction had ended!
Not being able to personally afford any of these high-priced items, I was able to do the next best thing as I was able to have the photographs of the items being auctioned by purchasing the 439-page massive catalog of Mr. Irsay’s fabulous collection directly from the Christie’s auction website provided above.
Not only did the catalog contain many Beatles collectibles but it featured many superb items from virtually all of the major characters prominent in pop-culture over the years. Mr. Irsay had good taste as the many great items in the catalog would attest to!
The front cover of my copy of the catalog:
A side view of the thick catalog of auction items:
The back cover of the mammoth auction catalog!
A few sample pages from my copy of the Christie’s catalog of the Jim Irsay Collection: Here are the main categories of the Table of Contents of the auction catalog
AUCTION INFORMATION FROM THE CATALOG:
INFORMATION ABOUT JIM IRSAY: A GREAT MUSIC FAN!
A FEW SAMPLE PHOTOS FROM MY COPY OF THE CATALOG:
Though I love viewing all of the items in this auction catalog, it is the Beatles collectibles that primarily attract my interest. Mr. Irsay had tremendous taste in the items he chose to acquire for his tremendous collection. I am including a few sample photographs from my copy of the auction catalog so you can get a flavor for what is being offered at the auction. One can only imagine what some of these items will end up fetching!
According to the auction catalog, this is Ringo Starr’s first Ludwing drum kit used with the Beatles from May 1963 to February 1964!
THIS LENNON RICKENBACKER SOLD FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS AT THE CHRISTIE’S AUCTION:
John Lennon’s Rose-Morris Rickenbacker Guitar: This guitar was used the Beatles’ Christmas Shows December 1964-January 1965!
Beatles Auction Breaks the Internet!!
John Lennon’s BROADWOOD UPRIGHT PIANO-used to compose three songs for the Sgt. Pepper album!
Beatles Auction Breaks the Internet!!
Handwritten lyrics and notation by Paul McCartney for Hey Jude! You can see what this went for on one of the links provided in the post!
Beatles Auction Breaks the Internet!!
The Beatles: An affidavit filed by Paul McCartney to dissolve the Beatles with John Lennon’s handwritten annotations!
Beatles Collectibles Up For Sale at Christie’s Auction
The Jim Irsay Beatles Collection Tour with Mikey Arugula #beatlesmuseum #jimirsay #beatlemania #fab4
SOME OF THE RESULTS:
See some of the results of the auction here:
Beatles Auction Breaks the Internet!!
Hope you enjoyed this brief view of my recently acquired Christie’s catalog and some of the items contained within. Though I could never own any of the items personally, it is nice to have a photographic record of some of the pop-culture history, artifacts and the treasures compiled by Jim Irsay when he was around. He collected these items to preserve them for posterity and future generations.
Be healthy and be happy!
Buzz
Hello, I clicked on the Jim Irsay collection and it shows auctions and results but I was unable to see anything where I can purchase the catalog?
There’s 2 catalogs or 2 different covers!
Could you please point to me to the location where I can purchase the catalog!
Please answer! Thank you so much!
Paul
Paul-they must have suspended selling the catalogs once the auction was complete or over. The link you see on the post was the link that I used to purchase my copy of the catalog. Perhaps, you can check on eBay. Unfortunately, the blog cannot control how the auction house sells their catalogs and their decision to remove it from sale once the auction was complete!
I did a search on eBay and on 3/21/26 I saw 2 catalogs being offered for sale on eBay! These types of items that are somewhat expensive like this catalog do not stay around for long! They only print a limited amount of them!