Titanic survivor's ominous letter fetches nearly $400K at auction

Miami Herald

27-04-2025

A lettercard written by Titanic survivor Archibald Gracie has sold for £300,000 ($399,000) by Henry Aldridge & Son Auction House in Wiltshire, England.
Why it matters
More than a century after the Titanic's tragic sinking, the public's fascination with its history remains strong. This auction significantly exceeds the initial estimate of £60,000 ($79,878), highlighting the enduring fascination with Titanic artifacts and their historical significance.
The letter represents one of the few surviving firsthand accounts from a passenger who lived to document the infamous disaster that killed over 1,500 people in its maiden voyage, making it an exceptional historical document.
What to know
The rare document, penned by Gracie on April 10, 1912, just days before the ship's tragic sinking, contains the eerily prescient line: 'It is a fine ship but I shall await my journeys end before I pass judgment on her.'
The letter was written to the seller's great-uncle and postmarked from Queenstown, Ireland, one of the Titanic's final stops before its fateful journey across the Atlantic. Gracie, a first-class passenger assigned to cabin C51, survived the sinking by jumping from the ship and climbing onto an overturned collapsible boat before being rescued.
After his rescue by the R.M.S. Carpathia, Gracie wrote The Truth about the Titanic, considered one of the most detailed accounts of the catastrophe. He never fully recovered from the hypothermia he suffered during the sinking and died from diabetes complications later in 1912.
What people are saying
Henry Aldridge & Son Auction House told Newsweek in an email: 'The record braking prices and global participation from collectors are a testament to the enduring interest in the Titanic the world over, the stories of those men, women and children are told through the memorabilia and their memories are kept alive through those items.'
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge: 'This is an exceptional museum grade piece.'
What happens next
The letter has been purchased by an anonymous private collector from the United States, where it will likely become part of a significant private collection of Titanic memorabilia.
Reporting from the Associated Press contributed to this article.
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