Titanic passenger letter sent day before sinking ‘will sell for £80k’

A LETTER written by one of the Titanic’s victims a day before the ship sank is expected to fetch £80,000 (€90,000) at auction.

The handwritten note, on oversized embossed Titanic stationery, was penned on April 13 1912. It was written by First Class passenger Alexander Oskar Holverson, who intended to post it to his mother in New York.

Mr Holverson, a salesman, was one of more than 1,500 passengers and crew who died when the Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14. The letter, written on three of its four pages, was found in Mr Holverson’s pocket notebook when his body was recovered.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described it as ‘the most important letter written on board Titanic to ever come to market’.

‘It is exceptional on several levels including content, historical context and rarity,’ Mr Aldridge said. ‘If this letter were virtually blank, it would still rank amongst the most desirable. The content takes it to another level.’

The letter – which will will be auctioned in Wiltshire on October 21 – is one of the last known to have survived the sinking and the last-known letter written on board by a victim. It was received by Mr Holverson’s mother after the ship sank and remained in his family.

Mr Holverson, who was on board the ship with wife Mary Alice, wrote: ‘This boat is giant in size and fitted up like a palatial hotel. If all goes well we will arrive in New York Wednesday A.M. I am sending you a postcard of the ship and also a book of postcards showing the inside.’