Last Titanic letter realises $166,000

One of the last letters written on the Titanic realised £126,000 ($165,921) at Henry Aldridge Auctioneers over the weekend.

That’s a huge increase on its £80,000 ($105,405) estimate and a record for a letter written aboard the ship. 

Titanic letter Holverson

Holverson's letter contains some intriguing descriptions of the ship

The author was Alexander Oskar Holverson, a travelling shirt salesman from Minnesota.

The letter is addressed to his mother and reads in part (sic): “This boat is giant in size and fitted up like a palacial hotel. The food and music is excellent”.

It's dated April 13, 1912 – the day before the ship went down.

Sadly Holverson’s mother didn’t receive the letter. It was recovered from Holverson’s body in the hours after the ship went down. Amazingly, it remains entirely legible despite being submerged in water for some time.

Auctioneer Henry Aldridge said: “Since this one was recovered from Mr Holverson's body he obviously had hoped to send it on to his mother from New York...

“If this letter was virtually unreadable it would still rank amongst the most desirable. Yet the content takes it to another level.

“It is the only letter to be written on April 13 that has been recovered and the only letter written on board Titanic stationary to have been recovered from a victim...

“It also gives us an unparalleled snapshot into life on board this liner for first class passengers.”

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