The album John Lennon autographed for his assassin just five hours before the former Beatle was killed went up for sale on Friday for $525,000.

The copy of Lennon and wife Yoko Ono's "Double Fantasy," which sold for $460,000 four years ago, is being sold in part due to the recent frenzy of interest in Beatles memorabilia, according to the owner of the Web site selling the album.

"Beatles memorabilia is at an all-time peak," said Gary Zimet, owner of http://www.momentsintime.com. "For years, their material was grossly undervalued."

Last week, Lennon's handwritten lyrics to the song "Nowhere Man" were sold at Christie's for $455,000 -- more than four times the expected price.

According to the site, the album's cover and dust jacket contain the "forensically enhanced" fingerprints of Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman.

Chapman shot the pop star outside the Dakota apartment building, Lennon's Manhattan home, on Dec. 8, 1980. The album was later found in a flower planter near the building and was used as evidence against Chapman.

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