One of the last known letters written on the Titanic sold for a world record price of £126,000 ($166,000) at auction on Saturday.
The superlative letter handwritten on oversized embossed on-board Titanic stationery was written by Minnesota-born Titanic passenger Oscar Holverson.
Oscar wrote the letter for his mother on 13 April 1912 – a day before the ship hit an iceberg.
“The boat is giant in size and fitted up like a palatial hotel,” Holverson wrote.
Photo of the “extraordinary letter” written by First Class victim Alexander Oskar Holverson to his mother on April 13th, 1912:
Holverson described his experience seeing one of the richest people in the world at that time – John Jacob Astor – on the ship.
“He looks like any other human being even tho (sic) he has millions of money,” he wrote. “They sit out on deck with the rest of us.”
“If all goes well we will arrive in New York Wednesday A.M.,” Holverson added.
Oscar Holverson was traveling on the ship with his wife, Mary Alice. Mary survived the sinking whilst her husband died along with more than 1,500 people. Oscar’s body was recovered and the letter was found inside a pocket book.
Oscar was buried in Woodlawn cemetery in New York.
The Holverson family sold the letter an auction held by Henry Aldridge & Son in the English town of Devizes.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said the letter is one of the most iconic and important items from the Titanic to be auctioned and highlights the incredibly strong interest in the ship and its passengers.
“The prices illustrate the continuing interest in the Titanic and her passengers and crew,” said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge.
“I’m delighted with the new world record for the Titanic letter. It reflects its status as the most important Titanic letter we have ever auctioned.”
In April 2014, a letter written just hours before the ship’s encounter with the iceberg, was sold at auction for £119,000.