New York, Dec 7 (IANS): A previously unknown notebook belonging to India's Nobel Laureate and Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore will be auctioned here next week, according to Sotheby's New York auction house.

Covered in red cloth, the 1928 notebook containing 12 poems and lyrics for 12 songs by Tagore in Bengali, some being heavily amended drafts of subsequently published works, is estimated to fetch $150,000-250,000 at the Dec 13 auction.

The "Gitanjali" author presented the 152-page book to a family friend and early patron in the mid-1930s through whose family it has descended. The manuscript is said to reflect the way Tagore worked.

This is the first of its kind auction in 25 years connected to Tagore who became the first Asian to win a Nobel Prize in 1913, according to the auction house.

A poet, novelist, playwright, and composer artist, Tagore was also a prolific painter. Many of his paintings have fetched strong prices at auctions in London last year.