Joy Division co-founder and bassist Peter Hook’s passport, issued in July 1977 under his birth name, Peter Woodhead (Hook used stepfather Ernest Hook’s last name, but at this point was still legally Peter Woodhead.) The British Visitor’s Passport features an original photograph of the 21 year old Hook, and is signed and presumably filled out by him.

The one-year passport dates from a remarkable time in Joy Divison’s evolution.  It is dated July 29, 1977,  just a week after Hook and his childhood friend Bernard Sumner attended the legendary Sex Pistols show at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall.  The following day, Hook bought his first bass guitar, and with Sumner formed the band Warsaw.  During the year the passport was valid, Warsaw played its first live shows, the band coalesced into the classic Hook/Sumner/Ian Curtis/Stephen Morris lineup, changed their name to Joy Division, recorded the Joy Division EP ‘An Ideal For Living,’ recorded a demo for RCA Records, hired their longtime manager Rob Gretton, were featured on the album Short Circuit: Live at the Electric Circus, and played one of the first Factory nights at the Russell Club, forging their relationship with Factory Records founder Tony Wilson.  All prior to the passport’s expiration on July 29, 1978!

The passport was sold by Hook as part of the Peter Hook Signature Collection Auction.  Included is a full size reproduction of the ‘An Ideal For Living’ EP artwork hand signed by Peter Hook, and a double sided vinyl hang tag from the Auction.

An exceptional Joy Division collectible, with Recordmecca’s written lifetime guarantee of authenticity.

Passport: 11 1/4″ x 5 3/4″.  Ideal For Living artwork: 14 1/2″ x 14 1/2″.

From Passport-Collector.com: The British Visitor’s Passport (BVP), was a simplified version of the standard passport, introduced in March 1961 and made available to any British citizen, British Dependent Territories citizen, or British Overseas citizen resident in the united Kingdom for over 8 years.  It was in the form of a 3-fold card and could be obtained from any post office on sight of the applicant’s birth certificate or other specified documents of identity.  It was intended solely for a holiday or similar private visits not exceeding 3 months in duration to specified European countries…Due to many concerns arising in connection with the easy availability and security of the document, the BVP was withdrawn with effect from 1 January 1996.