A unique letter written by one of the most renowned survivors of the Titanic, Colonel Archibald Gracie, has fetched a document £300, 000, which is five times the predicted price, at an auction in Wiltshire, slapping a new higher price for Titanic correspondence.
A cold look into the days leading up to crisis can be found in the letter, which was sent on April 10, 1912, the evening Gracie boarded the Titanic. It is ominous in tone, with the words” It is a fine ship but I shall wait until my journey’s end before I pass judgment on her” being written on a Titanic letter card and postmarked in Queenstown and London.
It is the record price for a Titanic letter, according to auctioneer Henry Aldridge and Son, who described it as” a truly exceptional, museum-grade piece.” Veteran letters of Gracie’s caliber are exceptionally uncommon, and this one was not offered before.
The four-page letter, written to a family friend who had a friendship with Gracie at the London Waldorf Hotel, is heartwarming in its reminiscences of his earlier voyages on the Oceanic, recalling,” Her sea-worthy features and yacht-like look make me lose her,” and even gushing about the size of the Titanic.
Weeks later, Gracie may take part in one of literature’s most tragic night. The dramatic shutting of the Titanic’s engines caused Gracie to be rudely awakened at 11:40 am after an hour of squash, a drop in the boat’s pool, and a Sunday church service. Without a second thought, he immediately led women and children to boats and bought mats to keep them warm in the cold.
When the send suddenly submerged in the Atlantic waves, Gracie and other victims climbed onto an unturned folding vessel. Anxiety of capsizing prevented those on board from attempting more while furious athletes pleaded for support in the darkness. Gracie recalls with grief that more than half the people who were anchored on the sloping boat perished before sunrise, exhausted and chilled.
In no case, Gracie noted in his early memoir, The Truth About the Titanic, in which the survivors ‘ last moments were recapped, some offering gifts rather than shouts.
One of the most thorough and vivid accounts of the drama is also Col. Gracie’s eye-witness account. The traders put the letter on the label of an important remnant,” It is impossible to overstate the uniqueness of this lot,” they continued. It was written by one of the most well-known individuals and” describes a second frozen in time.”
