The management contract made between the Beatles and Brian Epstein - the only such contract ever signed by the group - will go on the auction block at Sotheby's Rock & Pop sale on September 29.

The doc was signed on October 1, 1962, just four days ahead of the release of their first single "Love Me Do."

"Without this contract, and the relationship it represents, it seems inconceivable that the Beatles could have achieved all that they did: it took more than inspired musicianship and song-writing to remake popular music," said a rep for Sotheby's.

The contract is expected to fetch between $450,000 and $780,000.

The contract featured an out clause stipulating that the agreement could be revoked with three months' notice - a clause later erased by Epstein.