Titanic letter sells for world record price at auction

[jpak]

Source: BBC

The letter, written by American businessman and Titanic passenger, Oscar Holverson, fetched £126,000.

It was sought-after because he wrote it on 13 April 1912 - the day before the Belfast-built ship hit an iceberg.

It is the only known letter, on headed Titanic notepaper, to have gone into the Atlantic and survived.

The sea-water stained document was sold to a British buyer, whose bid to the auction in Wiltshire came in via phone.

<more>

Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-41696084

---

[Plucketeer]

1. I guess that's nice in some peculiar way

But how many hungry folks could dine on 126,000 Lbs? Who's gonna get "trickled on" by this?

[KWR65]

2. Is there any one alive that remembers the Titanic?

It was 106 years ago.

[Liberalagogo]

4. If you mean any survivors of the sinking...

No.

The last one died at age 97 in 2009.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/01/last-titanic-survivor-dies

[PoliticAverse]

3. I hope at that price a stamp was included. n/t

[xxqqqzme]

6. Evidently not

"...The letter eventually made its way back to his mother.
Mr Aldridge said that makes it "possibly, the only onboard letter written by a victim that was delivered to its recipient without postage".

[Honeycombe8]

5. Wow. What a piece of history to have. Amazing it survived. I wonder how.

A survivor was carrying it,maybe? Amazing.

[xxqqqzme]

7. Answer

"...When the Titanic sank, Oscar Holverson, along with JJ Astor, died along with more than 1,500 people.
Mary Holverson survived.
Her husband's body was recovered and, inside a pocket book, the letter was found.
It still bears the stains of the sea water and the water mark of the White Star shipping line..."

[Honeycombe8]

9. Oh, how sad. How sad. Amazing they recovered the body, too. nt

[spiderpig]

8. I recall going to the Titanic exhibition in Greenwich

where there were amazing displays of things that suvived (at that time) over 80 years at the bottom of the Atlantic.

There were some paper wallet contents, including money, of course, that remained relatively intact due to the tannin in the leather which protected them.

An image of a set of china lying on the seafloor in uninterrupted rows where the cabinet that had held them had completely vanished was pretty mindblowing.

[Honeycombe8]

10. Wow. nt

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

11. Photos of shoes are haunting

A pair of shoes sitting together on the sea floor probably means they were on someone's feet when they landed there.

[A Morpheus Felinae]

12. I, also, went to the Titanic exhibition

in Seattle, Washington. It was a very emotional experience and one I won't soon forget.