In 1995, 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 of conservation.
- Unique piece.
Dear G. King,
Thank you for your letter,
and also thanks for the newspapers.
Most newspapers depress me, but I like them.
to do the crosswords!
The reason I joined the Train Robbery
it was the desire to put my hands on
a lot of money! I figured that
could solve all my financial problems
and conquer the good life, but things
didn't go exactly as planned!
Anyway, good luck with your project.
and always remember that Crime
It is not (and never!) worth it!
With best regards,
Ronnie Biggs. Rio, 1995.
Ronnie Biggs (1929 - 2013) is a famous English criminal who participated in the 1963 "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, the equivalent of about 150 million reais today. Most of the band members were arrested, and Biggs was sentenced to 30 years in prison and only part of the money was found.
After 15 months in prison, he managed to escape from prison using a ladder made of ropes. 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.
With almost no money in Rio de Janeiro, no work visa and forced to go to the police twice a week, Ronnie Biggs began selling his story to interviewees and tourists. Taking advantage of Brazilian laws that prohibited the extradition to England of a foreign father of a Brazilian child, Biggs led a public life in Brazil without embarrassment for 40 years. In addition, he made several visits to England under a false identity to film 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 views of the city, where he organized countless parties.
Biggs' personality was very controversial: some admired his audacity for the robbery, his escape from prison and his 36 years as a fugitive, defying the authorities and living freely in Brazil. Others hated his attitude as a bandit who mocked 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 hiding in Brazil, Biggs' 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. In fact, Ronnie Biggs explains why he participated in the robbery - "to get his hands on a lot of money and solve his financial problems" - but he also clearly shows regret, saying to G. King: "always remember that crime doesn't pay (and never will)."
The letter is in excellent condition, beautifully written, and the Ronnie Biggs x Garry King association 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 additional interesting element is the address that Ronnie Biggs wrote, even while on the run, in the upper right-hand 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.
