Robert Zimmerman changed his name to Bob Dylan at university

The 16 pages of poems are the first known time Robert Zimmerman used the Dylan name and come from his stint at the University of Minnesota in 1959-60.

The selling price was the highest auction price to date for the acclaimed songwriter, according to Christie's. The European buyer was not identified.

Eric Clapton's 1959 electric guitar sold for $36,000 (�20,970).

The Fender composite Stratocaster was sold to an American buyer.

Medallion

The title page to Dylan's work was inscribed in blue ink with Poems Without Titles, while the poems were written in pencil and signed "Dylan" or "Dylanism".

Many poems show the folk singer's "witty and sometimes coarse sense of humour", his desire to stop smoking and his relationships with various women, according to Christie's.

The auction comes amid revived interest in Dylan, thanks to a recent Martin Scorsese documentary on the rock legend and his memoirs, which were published in 2004.

A medallion worn by Jimi Hendrix at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, when he famously set his guitar on fire, found no buyer.

The piece had been estimated to sell for between $60,000 and $80,000.

The words to the song Not To Touch the Earth written by The Doors lead singer Jim Morrison also went unsold.