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Alcatraz: Clarence Anglin

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,000.00 USD
Alcatraz: Clarence Anglin

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Auction Date:2018 May 09 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Rare ALS signed “Clarence,” one page, 8 x 10.5, February 19, 1956. Letter written to his mother while he was incarcerated in the Atlanta Penitentiary, in full (spelling and grammar retained): "Just a few lines to let you know I am getting along alright I hope every body at home is ok. I really enjoyed you all being here Sunday and all the things you brought. I hope you all had a nice trip back home. Moma I let you carrie one of my socks back with you I didn’t notice until I was back inside I only have one. The new guitar strings is really good. Tell every at home Hello and take it easy I will have enclosed a package slip for the amplifier you all take it easy and ans. soon." Lower right portion bears a "Censored" stamp. In fine condition, with a light stain to the upper right corner. Accompanied by a copy of a letter of provenance from Anglin's sister, Marie Widner, addressing her plans to sell the letters: "The money will go to help my 2 Grandsons, who need it."

Along with fellow inmates Frank Morris and Allen West, the Anglin brothers, John and Clarence, patiently concocted an ingenious plan to escape from ‘the Rock.’ Working at night over the course of six months, the men, who shared adjacent cells, gradually set up a small workshop hidden in an unguarded utility corridor. Moving to and fro through widened ventilation ducts, the inmates assembled a variety of stolen and donated goods (including more than 50 raincoats) that they would makeshift into life preservers, a 6 x 18 foot rubber raft, paddles, and a bellows created from an old concertina.

On the night of June 11, 1962, the men made their move, but West, who lingered in an attempt to properly reset his cell’s ventilation grill, was left behind. The other three made it to the roof, descended a kitchen vent pipe, scaled two barb wire fences, and on the northeast shoreline—a searchlight and prison tower blind spot—inflated their raft and departed two miles north to Angel Island. The men were never seen again, but members of the Anglin family insist that the brothers had made contact on various occasions. The Anglins’ remarkable escape from Alcatraz was later made into a popular 1979 film starring Clint Eastwood.