Prophetic letter from Titanic sold for a fortune! This story still moves today
More than a hundred years after the Titanic disaster, its story still stirs emotions. A letter written by a surviving passenger just before the tragedy has just been sold for a huge sum.
Titanic , a symbol of luxury , dreams and... unfortunately, a great tragedy . Although over a hundred years have passed since its sinking, the fascination with this ship has not waned.
The latest evidence is an auction at the British Henry Aldridge & Son , where a unique letter written by a first-class passenger, Colonel Archibald Gracie , was sold. The amount? A record $399,000, almost five times more than expected!
Drawing of the Titanic / photo: ShutterstockGracie boarded the Titanic on 10 April 1912 at Southampton .
"It's a wonderful ship, but I'll reserve judgment until the end of the voyage," he wrote to a friend in a letter.
These words, although innocent, sound somewhat prophetic today.
Just five days later, the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the icy waters of the Atlantic , taking the lives of some 1,500 people. Gracie , despite everything, survived. He saved himself by climbing onto a capsized lifeboat with a dozen other men.
Titanic Passenger List / Photo: Henry Aldridge & SonAccording to the auction house Henry Aldridge & Son , the colonel not only survived the tragedy, but also described it in the book "The Truth About the Titanic" . Unfortunately, injuries sustained during the disaster and the effects of hypothermia caused Gracie to die just eight months later.
What happened to the letter from the Titanic?Interestingly, the letter that had just been sold never made it with the Gracie on its tragic voyage across the Atlantic . It had been sent from Queenstown, Ireland , where the Titanic had stopped before beginning its actual journey. It was addressed to an acquaintance of the colonel, who received the correspondence on April 12, 1912, three days before the ship sank .
According to Andrew Aldridge of auction house Henry Aldridge & Son , it was this wry phrase about "waiting for the journey's end" that made the letter so special.
- The stories of the people who were on the Titanic live on thanks to such memorabilia - emphasizes Aldridge .
The Titanic remains one of the most powerful symbols of human dreams , pride , and drama . And objects like Gracie's letter remind us that behind great history lie personal tragedies and heroic stories of ordinary people.
