Bob Dylan's handwritten lyrics to Like A Rolling Stone up for sale

Bob Dylan performing with his band in 2003 Credit: Reuters

Bob Dylan's handwritten lyrics for his most iconic song Like A Rolling Stone are being auctioned in New York this summer.

The artist's original notes, doodles and drafts for his game-changing single, scrawled on hotel paper in 1965, are going under the hammer for an estimated $1 million to $2 million.

Auction house Sotheby's said the four small sheets of paper - stationary from Roger Smith hotel in Washington - are "the only known surviving draft of the final lyrics for this transformative rock anthem".

Bob Dylan's working draft was written in pencil on paper from the Roger Smith hotel in Washington. Credit: PA

The manuscript is being sold by a "long-time fan" from California, who bought it directly from Dylan three years ago.

The famous lyrics in Dylan's handwriting:

"How does it feel to be on your own?

"No direction home

"Like a complete unknown

"Like a rolling stone."

Scrawls seem to reflect the artist's experimentation with rhymes. Credit: PA

From the singer's experimentation with rhymes and pencil-drawn doodles, Like a Rolling Stone was created and some of the artist's notes can be seen in the final lyrics of the released song.

Lyrics of the released song reflect the early draft work of the artist Credit: Lyrics Freak

The American singer and songwriter was 24-years-old when he recorded the song in 1965 - but he only released the official music video last year.

The song, which is about a debutante who becomes a loner when she is cast from upper-class social circles, transformed Bob Dylan's career from a folk singer to a rock star.

Bob Dylan performing the hit live:

Although the song was kept off the top of the Billboard chart by The Beatles' Help, Rolling Stone magazine went on to name it the Greatest Song of all Time in 2011.

The auction is taking place on June 24 in Sotheby's A History of Rock & Roll: From Presley to Punk.