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Ronnie Biggs handwritten letter (1995)

Ronnie Biggs handwritten letter (1995)

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Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Digital Warranty ©

This item is no longer available. However, we may be able to put you in touch with its owner — who knows, they might accept your offer? — or, alternatively, suggest other items of similar interest, without any obligation. Contact us via WhatsApp: +55 31 98221-5758 or email: contato@glorias.com.br

In 1995, the famous British fugitive Ronnie Biggs writes an incredible letter from Rio de Janeiro.

  • Handwritten letter from Ronnie Biggs to Garry King.
  • One page.
  • In English.
  • 21 cm x 29.5 cm.
  • Rio de Janeiro, October 9, 1995.
  • Excellent condition.
  • Unique piece.

Dear G. King,

Thank you for your letter,
and also thank you for the newspapers.
Most newspapers depress me, but I enjoy
doing the crossword puzzles!

The reason I got into the Train Robbery
was the desire to get my hands on
a lot of money! I imagined it
could solve all my financial problems
and win me the good life, but things
didn't exactly go as planned!

Anyway, good luck with your project
and always remember that Crime
does not (and never!) pay!

With best wishes,
Ronnie Biggs. Rio, 1995.

Ronnie Biggs (1929 - 2013) is a famous English criminal who participated in 1963 in the "heist of the century" or "Great Train Robbery", the audacious attack on an English mail train carrying 125 bags of money worth a total of 2.6 million pounds at the time, equivalent to about 150 million reais today. Most of the gang members were arrested, and Biggs was sentenced to 30 years in prison and only a portion of the money was found.

After 15 months of detention, he managed to escape from prison using a rope ladder. He fled to Paris, where he underwent plastic surgery to change his face and acquire a new identity. Later, in 1970, he moved to Australia, but was recognized by a journalist and left Australia for Brazil, leaving behind his wife and two children.

Almost penniless in Rio de Janeiro, without a work visa and obliged to report to the police twice a week, Ronnie Biggs began selling his story for interviews and to tourists. Taking advantage of Brazilian laws, which prohibited the extradition to England of a foreigner who was the father of a Brazilian child, for 40 years Biggs shamelessly led a public life in Brazil. In addition, he made several visits to England, under a false identity, for the filming of a documentary about the Great Train Robbery. Ronnie Biggs lived in Santa Teresa, a bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, in a house with a pool and city views, where he organized numerous parties.

Biggs's personality was very controversial: some admired his audacity for the robbery, the prison escape, and the 36 years on the run, defying authorities and living freely in Brazil. Others detested his attitude of a bandit mocking the law and remembered that Jack Mills, the train driver, who had been beaten with an iron bar, never fully recovered and died of leukemia seven years later.

Despite being a letter written by a fugitive hidden in Brazil, Biggs's story and the particularly relevant content of this letter - in the form of a confession - make it a unique collector's item and, perhaps, an educational act? Indeed, Ronnie Biggs explains why he participated in the robbery - "to get my hands on a lot of money and solve my financial problems" - but he also clearly shows regret by telling G. King: "always remember that crime does not (and never will) pay."

The letter is in excellent condition, with beautiful handwriting, and the association of Ronnie Biggs x Garry King adds value to the document. Garry King, the recipient of this letter, is a renowned British collector of handwritten documents who knew Biggs personally. An interesting additional element is the address that Ronnie Biggs wrote, even while on the run, in the upper right corner of the letter, in Santa Teresa where he lived until 2001, when he decided to return to England, where he was arrested and ended his life.

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