New York-based auctioneer sold the rare Titanic artifacts in 2011.
Rare photos and a letter written aboard the Titanic before it sank fetched more than $100,00 at an auction in New York in 2011.
Newsday reports that the trove of Titanic artifacts was auctioned by Phillip Weiss Auctions in New York for a staggering $100,570.
Read More: The last letter written on board the doomed Titanic
Pieces included in the auction are photographs taken from the Carpathia, the ship that came to rescue the Titanic survivors, as well as letters from John and Nelle Snyder, a honeymooning couple who were among the first to escape onto lifeboats.
The letters from John Snyder offer new firsthand accounts about the night the Titanic fatally struck an iceberg.
In his letter, John Snyder wrote: "I can only tell you that I have a mighty fine wife and she is the one you must thank - besides our Lord - for my being able to write this letter."
"If it hadn't been for Nelle I am sure that I never would be here now. She is the one that urged me to get up when I wanted to go back to bed."
"We were both asleep when the boat hit. I don't know whether the bump woke me up or I woke when Nelle spoke to me."
"At any rate she made me get up and go out to the companionway to see what was going on - I went out three times before deciding to get up and get dressed."
"When we reached the top deck only a few people were about and we all were told to go down and put on some life belts - we did it, thinking it was only a precaution."
The valuable Titanic artifacts (Weiss Auctions)
Read More: Titanic crewman’s tragic last letter to his wife and unborn child auctioned
"When we got back on the top deck again we saw they were getting the lifeboats ready - as soon as they were ready they told the people to get into them."
"Nearly everybody stepped back from in front of us and as a result, we were almost the very first people placed in the lifeboat."
The fact that John and Nelle were honeymooning supports a press release at the time that along with "men, women, and children," putting “the brides and grooms first” into the boats was also encouraged. However, John never made direct mention of that being said in his letters.
Along with photos of the lifeboats, there are also photos of the supposed iceberg that the Titanic struck, as well as photos of the SS Californian, another rescue ship that initially ignored the Titanic’s distress calls. There is also a photograph of John and Nelle shortly after they boarded the Carpathia, wearing the clothing they escaped from the Titanic in.
*Originally published in 2013.
Comments