Key facts
- A letter written by Titanic survivor Colonel Archibald Gracie aboard the ship on April 10, 1912, has sold at auction.
- The letter expressed a cautious sentiment about the ship: 'It is a fine ship, but I shall await my journey's end before I pass judgment on her.'
- The auction house Henry Aldridge & Son sold the letter for £300,000 ($399,000).
- This sale price set a new record for a letter written by a Titanic passenger.
A rare letter penned by Titanic survivor Colonel Archibald Gracie aboard the ill-fated ship just days before it struck an iceberg has sold for a record-breaking £300,000 ($399,000).
The letter, dated April 10, 1912, was written to an acquaintance and noted Gracie's initial impressions of the vessel, stating, "It is a fine ship, but I shall await my journey's end before I pass judgment on her." Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described this line as "the most prophetic" given the ship's fate five days later.
Gracie, a wealthy American real estate investor, was a first-class passenger who survived the disaster by clinging to an overturned collapsible lifeboat. He later documented his experience in the book "The Truth About the Titanic," published posthumously in 1913. Gracie himself died in December 1912 from complications related to his ordeal, including hypothermia and injuries sustained during the sinking.
The letter was sold by Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, UK, a firm renowned as a leading auction house for Titanic memorabilia. The sale significantly surpassed the letter's high estimate of £60,000 ($80,600), setting a new record for correspondence from a Titanic passenger. The auction house has previously set records for Titanic artifacts, including the bandleader's violin, which sold for $1.7 million in 2013.