His personal copy Dylan Thomas of his first book of poetry will be auctioned as part of the literary collection of the late Rolling Stone drummer Charlie Watts. The auction, which includes many rare first editions, comes two years after Watts’ death.

The book ’18 Poems’ is expected to sell for £10,000 (€11,668.92) when it goes under the hammer in September. The poetry collection was first published in December 1934, a month after Thomas’ 20th birthday, according to the BBC.

It includes the poem ‘The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower’ said to have made Dylan Thomas famous, written when the Welsh poet was just 19 years old.

A message Thomas wrote in ink on the book’s cover has been erased, but it refers to his first girlfriend, the author Pamela Hansford Johnson. Another note, in pencil, reads ‘My copy’ and also has the message ‘Given to Emily’, the American author, Emily Holmes Coleman.

Rock and roll legend Charlie Watts, who died in 2021, collected a number of works by 20th-century authors, headlined by a signed copy of ‘The Great Gatsby’ which is expected to sell for £200,000-300,000 pounds.

The auction will take place in two parts, at Christie’s London headquarters on September 28 and in an online sale that will run from September 15 to 29.