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Set of six photographs commissioned from Scottish photographer Iain Macmillan (1938-2006) as possible designs for the album's front cover - together with the Abbey Road street sign used on the back cover are to be sold at auction

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The Beatles' Abbey Road is one of the most recognisable and iconic album covers of all time, and a classic photograph that's often recreated by tourists visiting London. But that famous snap of John, Paul, George and Ringo, striding across a zebra crossing in northwest London wasn't quite as spontaneous as it looks.

In fact it took multiple shots to capture that classic moment.

Now, the full set of outtakes - along with the final cover shot - from the shoot is to be auctioned in London.

The set of six photographs commissioned from Scottish photographer Iain Macmillan (1938-2006) as possible designs for the album's front cover - together with the Abbey Road street sign used on the back cover - is of legendary rarity on the art market, according to Bloomsbury Auctions.

This is believed to be the first time a complete suite of the signed and numbered photographs has ever been offered at public auction. The collection will be on view to the public in central London from Sunday 16 November, before going under the hammer on Friday 21 November where they are estimated to achieve £50,000-70,000.

On 8th August 1969 Macmillan, a close friend of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, climbed a ladder in the middle of Abbey Road and in the next ten minutes took six photographs of the Fab Four walking back and forth across a zebra crossing. The fifth of his six shots, selected by Paul McCartney, would become the album cover for the Beatles' last-recorded album and one of pop music's most famous and recreated images.

In 1989 Iain Macmillan was quoted saying: 'That photo's been called an icon of the 60s. I suppose it is. I think the reason it became so popular is its simplicity. It's a very simple, stylised shot. Also it's a shot people can relate to. It's a place where people can still walk.'