Led Zeppelin’s most evocative record was one of their best dressed. Designed by Zacron, a former student of Kings Collage of Art who'd known Jimmy Page since the early 60s, Led Zeppelin III came wrapped in a spinning-wheel cover modelled on an old crop-rotation chart and had two Aleister Crowley quotations etched into the inner vinyl groove.
Zacron, born Richard Drew, died in 2012, and a recent sale of items from his estate unearthed some previously unseen original sketches from his work on the album.
The artwork included six previously unseen pages documenting the progress of Zacron’s revolving design, along with his handwritten instructions on how the wheel would function.
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The sketches were identified by collector Joseph Robert O’Donnel, who made headlines last month when one of his earlier discoveries, a piece of leftover toast that once "belonged" to The Beatles' George Harrison, sold at auction for an undisclosed sum.
After identifying the sketches, O’Donnell reached out to Led Zeppelin collector Brian Knapp, who served as an archival consultant on the recent Becoming Led Zeppelin movie, and the pair came to an agreement on the sale of the sketches. The price of the sale has not been disclosed.
“I couldn’t think of a more fitting home than Brian’s archive for these significant pieces of history," says O'Donnell. "Zacron’s drawings are legendary, as is Brian’s collection."
“Zacron was a very important artist, and his friendship and connection with Led Zeppelin are equally significant to the band’s legacy," adds Knapp. "I am pleased to add these to my collection, which I hope to exhibit at some point in the future.
