A lettercard penned by one of many Titanic’s most well-known survivors from onboard the ship, days earlier than it sank, has bought for $399,000 at public sale.

Within the word, written to the vendor’s great-uncle on April 10, 1912, first-class passenger Archibald Gracie wrote of the ill-fated steamship: “It’s a effective ship however I shall await my journeys finish earlier than I go judgment on her.”

The letter was bought to a personal collector from the US on Saturday, in accordance with public sale home Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, England. The hammer value far exceeded the preliminary estimate value of 60,000 kilos.

The letter is believed to be the only instance in existence from Gracie from onboard the Titanic, which sank off Newfoundland after hitting an iceberg, killing about 1,500 individuals on its maiden voyage.

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge described it as an “distinctive museum grade piece.”

“Not solely is it written by probably the most vital first-class passengers on Titanic, Colonel Archibald Gracie, [but] the letter itself accommodates essentially the most prophetic line: ‘It’s a effective ship however I shall await my journey’s finish earlier than I go judgment on her,'” Aldridge mentioned in an announcement.

Gracie, who jumped from the ship and managed to scramble onto an overturned collapsible boat, was rescued by different passengers onboard a lifeboat and was taken to the R.M.S. Carpathia. He went on to jot down “The Fact concerning the Titanic,” an account of his experiences, when he returned to New York Metropolis.

Gracie boarded the Titanic in Southampton on April 10, 1912, and was assigned first-class cabin C51. His e book is seen as probably the most detailed accounts of the occasions of the night time the ship sank, Aldridge mentioned. Gracie didn’t absolutely recuperate from the hypothermia he suffered, and died of issues from diabetes in late 1912.

The letter was postmarked Queenstown, Eire, certainly one of two stops the Titanic made earlier than sinking.

Henry Aldridge & Son put up dozens of Titanic gadgets up for public sale this month, together with a pocket watch and a third-class ticket belonging to 2 passengers who each died within the catastrophe.

Pocket watches beforehand owned by Titanic passengers have bought for big quantities at Henry Aldridge & Son’s auctions earlier than, with a bidder in November claiming certainly one of them for $2 million. The worth of that merchandise had damaged a document set earlier within the yr, when the identical public sale home bought a unique gold look ahead to about $1.46 million. In that case, the 14-carat object belonged to the wealthiest passenger on the Titanic, John Jacob Astor, whose internet price was round $87 million when the catastrophe occurred in 1912.