"The Beatles: The Authorized Biography" by Hunter Davies, published by McGraw-Hill, New York, copyright 1968 by Hunter Davies. First American Edition; illustrated with photographs.

First published by Heinemann, London in the UK in September 1968. It was written with the full cooperation of the Beatles and chronicles the band's career up until early 1968, two years before their break-up. It was the only authorized biography of the Beatles written during their career.

In this behind-the-scenes look at the most famous musical group in history, Hunter Davies gives the complete story of the Beatles. As the only authorized biographer, Davies had full access to the Fab Four as well as their help and encouragement. He spent eighteen months with them when they were at the peak of their musical genius and at the pinnacle of their popularity, and he remained friends with each of the members as they went their separate ways.

In Britain, Heinemann published the book on 30 September 1968. McGraw-Hill acquired the US rights for $160,000 (equivalent to $1.19 million in 2020), having outbid eight other major publishing houses. McGraw-Hill decided to release copies there on 17 August to avoid losing out to a rival biography by Julian Frost, titled The Beatles: The Real Story. Signet rush-released another book titled The Beatles, written by Anthony Scaduto, in an attempt to take sales from Davies' book.

The publication coincided with the cinema run of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine animated film and the release of "Hey Jude", the group's first single on their Apple record label. The book furthered the theme of togetherness presented by these projects. According to Davies, the authorized history was initially viewed as "quite daring and revealing", particularly in the US, and to quote the Beatles using the word "f..." was "most unusual in a popular book at the time". Jonathan Gould considers it to be a worthy account of the band's history. He says that, aside from its few factual errors, the book deserves its status as an authoritative source for subsequent Beatles biographies.

US: Priority (c.2-4 days) ------------- $9.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-6 weeks) ------ $22.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-8 weeks) ------- $31.50

Hard boards, gilt lettering spine [some wear]; 5.1/2” x 8.3/4”; slightly foxed endpapers, 372 pages + About the Athor + 15 plates with the b/w photographs in the middle and a few other b/w illustrations through the book, a few page corner folds, very good condition.