jOHN lENNON LETTERS TO BE PUBLISHED IN 2012

A collection of personal letters from the archives of late Beatles legend John Lennon will see the light of day in 2012.

Orion Publishing has secured the rights to a collection of private letters belonging to Lennon. The company is looking to have the correspondence released next year, which will also mark the fiftieth anniversary of "Love Me Do."

Beatles biographer Hunter Davies allegedly persuaded Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, to part with the rights to the letters. A figure has not been disclosed, but it is thought that the 150 letters cost the publishing house between $800,000 and $1.6 million U.S. dollars.

"These letters have never been collected in one place before, and for the most part they have never been seen before," Orion Publishing Group executive Alan Samson told the Guardian. Samson said that along with Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, Lennon is among only a half-dozen icons of the twentieth century.

Samson says the collection contains "very human letters," noting that "they are full of wonderful drawings."