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The letter is one of the last known to have
survived the sinking and still carries stains from its time in
the Atlantic.
Written by first-class passenger Alexander Oskar Holverson on
embossed Titanic "on-board" stationary, the letter to his mother
describes his impressions of the palatial ship, praising the
food and music.
"If all goes well we will arrive in New York Wednesday A.M.,"
Holverson wrote the day before the ship's fateful encounter with
an iceberg.
Holverson was a Minnesota-born salesman, who was traveling on
the ship with his wife, Mary Alice, who survived the sinking.
The letter was sold by the Holverson family at an auction held
by Henry Aldridge & Son in the southern English town of Devizes.
Iron keys from the Titanic also sold for 76,000 pounds.
"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 his letter Holverson also described his experiences rubbing
shoulders with one of the ship's most famous passengers.
"John Jacob Astor is on this ship," he said of the American
financier and real-estate investor, who was one of the world's
richest men at the time.
"He looks like any other human being even though he has millions
of money. They sit out on deck with the rest of us."
The Titanic was the largest ocean liner in service when it
struck an iceberg on April 14 1912 in the Atlantic while
traveling from Southampton to New York. More than 1,500 people
died.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce and Mark Hanrahan; Editing by Greg
Mahlich)
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