Particle.news

Download on the App Store

Titanic Survivor's Letter Sells for Record £300,000 at Auction

Colonel Archibald Gracie's 1912 correspondence, written aboard the Titanic, fetched five times its estimate, underscoring its rarity and historical significance.

Overview

  • A letter written by Titanic survivor Colonel Archibald Gracie on April 10, 1912, was auctioned for £300,000 in Wiltshire, England.
  • The letter, postmarked in Queenstown, Ireland, is believed to be the only surviving correspondence penned by Gracie aboard the ship.
  • Gracie described the Titanic as an excellent ship but reserved judgment until the journey's end, a remark viewed as eerily prescient.
  • The sale, conducted by Henry Aldridge & Son, far exceeded the initial estimate of £60,000, setting a new benchmark for Titanic memorabilia.
  • Gracie survived the disaster by clinging to a capsized lifeboat and later authored a detailed book on the tragedy, published posthumously in 1912.