Bob Dylan: Teen Plagiarist

Was the young Bob Dylan a plagiarist? A piece that Christie’s auction house has been touting as Dylan’s first known poem turns out to be the lyrics to a country song by the late Hank Snow, Reuters reports. A 16-year-old Dylan submitted the pilfered verses, which tell the sad tale of an ill-fated dog, to his Jewish camp’s newsletter.

The newsletter’s editor, a fellow camper, saved the handwritten page, which is signed with Dylan’s given name, Bobby Zimmerman; he’s selling it to raise money for the camp. Christie’s says it’s going ahead with the auction anyway. “This still remains among the earliest known handwritten lyrics of Bob Dylan,” it reasoned. The piece was originally expected to fetch $10,000-$15,000. (More Bob Dylan stories.)