Bonnie and Clyde’s never-before-seen photo album revealed with fugitive lovers’ poem foretelling their own death in cop shootout
Until now, photos and a scrapbook of the infamous couple's poetry have been languishing inside a box stored for decades in a garage.
BONNIE and Clyde’s never-before-seen photo album shows the fugitive lovers’ poem foretelling their own death in a cop shootout.
Primarily dating from 1933 and 1934, it includes images of the murderous fugitives on the run.
The pair are seen embracing in several black and white photos, while a staunch-looking Clyde poses holding a gun.
Others show Clyde Barrow's brother Buck, his wife Blanche and other members of the notorious Barrow gang.
The album belonged to Clyde's older sister Nell Barrow before passing into the hands of his nephew after she died in 1968.
He has now decided to sell the photos and a scrapbook of their poetry, which had been languishing in a box in his garage, with US based Heritage Auctions.
They are tipped to sell for a combined £23,000 ($30,000).
The couple turned a green leatherette 1933 Yearbook into a journal , in which to write poetry.
Heritage Auctions says: “The common theme is their life of crime and doomed efforts to elude capture.”
All the poems were written in pencil, and includes a 16-stanza poem by Bonnie Parker, outlining the couple’s “story”.
One fascinating poem, penned by Clyde in September 1933, shows a compassionate side to the fugitive as he pleads for “forgiveness” for what they've done, even describing himself and Bonnie as "sinners".
He says that they didn't want to harm anyone, but if they needed to have a shootout to escape a town alive “that's the way it would have to be”.
The poem also contains a chilling prediction that he and Bonnie would soon be “buried side by side”.
A mere eight months after it was written, on May 23, 1934, cops killed the pair in a dramatic shootout.
The poem reads: "As we travel down the highway not knowing where it will end. Never very much money, not even a friend.
"We don't want to hurt anyone, but we have to steal to eat, and if it's a shootout to live then that's the way it will have to be.
"We have kidnapped some people and tied them to a tree, but not so tight that after we were gone they could not get themselves free.
"We pray every town that we pass through to forgive sinners like Bonnie and Clyde, and please God just let us make it through this town to the other side.
"Some day we will go home forever, and they will bury us side by side.
"The grief that we have brought to our families will pass as the years go by."
Bonnie was known to write poetry and one of her offerings features in the sale.
One passage of hers, which slams the police, reads: "If a policeman is killed in Dallas and they have no clues for a guide.
"If they can't find the fiend, they wipe the slate clean, and hang it on Bonnie and Clyde."
Don Ackerman, specialist at auctioneers Heritage, said: "There are around 50 pictures of Bonnie, Clyde, or the two of them together.
“Other pictures are of gang members, some holding rifles or revolvers.
"Bonnie is known for having written poetry, but I don’t think any of it has been offered for sale.
"Clyde was not well-educated and is not known as a poet.
"The poems reflect the then-current lawlessness in the US and the terminology used is quite colourful and a window on the mindset of criminals being hunted down, not knowing which day would be their last.
"They knew they were doomed, but had no options. They did not want to give themselves up and face a life in prison or the electric chair.
"There has been a great deal in interest in Bonnie and Clyde since they were immortalised in film.
"The idea of two doomed lovers evading the concerted efforts of law enforcement rings a resonant chord with the public and collectors."
The Barrow Gang, headed up by Bonnie and Clyde, were active in Great Depression America between 1932 and 1934.
They became notorious for robbing banks, stores and gas stations across the nation, gaining headlines for evading the authorities in shootouts and making daring getaways.
The gang is believed to have killed at least nine police officers and committed several other murders.
The auction takes place on March 30.
Who were Bonnie and Clyde?
Bonnie Parker, born in Rowena, Texas, in 1910, was a petite woman – just 4’11” tall.
She had strawberry blonde curls and by the age of 16, had dropped out of high school, and was married to Roy Thornton.
Clyde Barrow was born into a poor farming family with six other children.
Described by as an attractive man with thick brown hair, like Bonnie, he wanted a change in fortune.
One night, Clyde heard that his sister had broken her arm.
When he got home, he found Bonnie – who was working as a waitress – making her hot chocolate in the kitchen.
It was love at first sight, and the pair spent almost every day together, as Bonnie’s husband was serving time for murder.
When Clyde ended up in Waco County Jail, for a burglary, he escaped using a gun that Bonnie had smuggled in to him.
He was recaptured, and sent back to prison, before being paroled in February 1932.
Clyde was bitter about the government’s role in the Depression, so put together a team of thieves to steal money he felt was rightfully theirs.
He took Bonnie with him while committing various crimes, sparking her love for adventure and romance.
Bonnie and Clyde were believed to have committed 13 murders and several robberies and burglaries, according to fbi.gov.
Although they were constantly on the run from police, they managed to visit their families.
The police cottoned on to their pattern of family visits, and predicted their next destination.
A posse of cops from Louisiana and Texas ambushed the couple before dawn on May 23, 1934, opening fire and killing them instantly.
