R.M.S. TITANIC: Unique Titanic lettercard from one of the mo...

Estimate

£40,000 - £60,000

R.M.S. TITANIC: Unique Titanic lettercard from one of the most well known survivors of the disaster, First-Class passenger and author of The Truth About the Titanic Archibald Gracie. The letter card which is separated as per images is believed to be the only example from Gracie in existence from onboard Titanic. Dated April 10^th and postmarked Queenstown 3.45pm April 11^th and London April 12^th it is written over four sides to the vendor’s great uncle who was an acquaintance of Gracie and received it in London at the Waldorf Hotel (he was a European ambassador from Alabama). Letters from survivors of Gracie's profile rarely, if ever, come to market and this piece has never been offered for sale. It reads in part

“It is a fine ship but I shall await my journeys end before I pass judgment on her. The Oceanic is like an old friend and while she does not possess the elaborate style and varied amusement of this big ship, still her sea worthy qualities and yacht like appearance make me miss her. It was very kind of you to give me this kindly send off, with best wishes for your success and happiness Archibald Gracie.

Gracie boarded the Titanic at Southampton on April 10, 1912, and was assigned First-Class cabin C51. He spent much of the voyage chaperoning various unaccompanied women. They included the writer Helen Churchill Candee, 52, and three sisters, née Lamson, who were also in their fifties: Charlotte Appleton, Malvina Cornell, and Caroline Brown. All four women survived the sinking,

Gracie socialized with a group he called "Our Coterie", joined by Candee, his friend J. Clinch Smith, and several others. He also spent time reading books he had found in the First-Class library and discussing the Civil War with the businessman Isidor Straus. Gracie was known among the other First-Class passengers as a tireless raconteur who had an inexhaustible supply of stories about Chickamauga and the Civil War in general.

On April 14, Gracie decided that he had neglected his health and spent some time in physical exercise on the squash courts and in the ship's swimming pool. He then attended church services, had an early lunch, and spent the rest of the day reading and socializing. He went to bed early, intending on an early start the next morning on the ship's squash courts.

At about 11:40 pm ship's time Gracie was jarred awake by a jolt. He sat up, realized the ship's engines were no longer moving, and partially dressed, putting on a Norfolk jacket over his regular clothes. Gracie joined Smith at the foot of the forward First-Class Grand Staircase on A Deck. Smith showed Gracie a piece of ice that had fallen off the berg. Reaching the Boat Deck, Gracie realized the ship was listing slightly. He returned to his cabin to put on his life jacket and on the way back found the women he had been chaperoning. He escorted them up to the Boat Deck and made sure they entered lifeboats. He then retrieved blankets for the women in the boats, and along with his friend Smith assisted Second Officer Charles Lightoller in filling the remaining lifeboats with women and children.

Once the last regular lifeboat had been launched at 1:55 am on the 15^th, Gracie and Smith assisted Lightoller and others in freeing the four Engelhardt collapsible boats that were stored atop the crew quarters and attached to the roof by heavy cords and canvas lashings. Gracie had to lend Lightoller his penknife so the boats could be freed. The men were able to launch Collapsibles "C" and "D" and free Collapsible "A" from its lashings, but while they were freeing Collapsible "B" from its place the bridge was suddenly awash. Gracie later wrote about the moment:

“My friend Clinch Smith made the proposition that we should leave and go toward the stern. But there arose before us from the decks below a mass of humanity several lines deep converging on the Boat Deck facing us and completely blocking our passage to the stern. There were women in the crowd as well as men and these seemed to be steerage passengers who had just come up from the decks below. Even among these people there was no hysterical cry, no evidence of panic. Oh the agony of it”

As the fore part of the ship dipped below the surface and the water rushed towards them, Gracie jumped with the wave, caught a handhold, and pulled himself up to the roof of the bridge. The undertow caused by the ship's sinking pulled Gracie down; he freed himself from the ship and rose to the surface near the overturned Collapsible "B". Gracie scrambled onto the overturned lifeboat along with a few dozen other men in the water. His friend Clinch Smith perished; his body never recovered. In his memoir, Gracie surmises Smith became entangled with the ropes and other debris on the ship and could not free himself.

Gracie made it to the capsized Collapsible "B". Realising the risk to the boat of being swamped by the mass of swimmers around them, they paddled slowly away, ignoring the pleas of dozens of swimmers to be allowed on board. In his account, Gracie wrote of the admiration he had for those in the water; "In no instance, I am happy to say, did I hear any word of rebuke from a swimmer because of a refusal to grant assistance... [one refusal] was met with the manly voice of a powerful man... 'All right boys, good luck and God bless you'."

As the night wore on, the exhausted, freezing, and soaking wet men aboard the overturned Collapsible "B" found it almost impossible to remain on the slick keel. Gracie later wrote that over half the men who had originally reached the collapsible either died from exhaustion or cold and slipped off the upturned keel during the night. As dawn broke and it became possible for those in other lifeboats to see them, Second Officer Lightoller (who was also on the collapsible, along with Wireless Operator Harold Bride) used his officer's whistle to attract the other boats' attention; eventually lifeboats Nos. 4 and 12 rowed over and rescued the survivors of the overturned boat. Gracie was so tired that he was unable to make the jump himself. He was pulled into lifeboat No. 12, the last lifeboat to reach R.M.S. Carpathia (the first rescue ship to arrive).

Gracie returned to New York City aboard Carpathia and immediately started on a book about his experiences aboard Titanic and Collapsible "B". His is one of the most detailed accounts of the events of the evening; Gracie spent months trying to determine exactly who was in each lifeboat and when certain events took place. Gracie never recovered from the ordeal he endured in the sinking of Titanic; as a diabetic, his health was severely affected by the hypothermia and physical injuries he suffered. It was reported, though, that he was well enough to attend a Thanksgiving reception at the Hotel Gotham. Gracie fell into a coma on December 2, 1912 and died of complications from diabetes on December 4^th 1912. His book was published in 1913 under the original title, The Truth about the Titanic.

It is impossible to overstate the rarity of this lot, it is written by one of the highest profile survivors, with excellent content and on the rarest of mediums a lettercard. A truly exceptional museum grade piece.