R.M.S. TITANIC: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT RECORD OF TITANIC BODIES...

Hammer

£22,000

R.M.S. TITANIC: EXTREMELY IMPORTANT RECORD OF TITANIC BODIES AND EFFECTS RELATED TO JOHN JACOB ASTOR IV
The Commercial Cable Company steamer Mackay-Bennett was the first vessel chartered by the White Star Line in the aftermath of the sinking for the gruesome task of locating and recovering the bodies of Titanic's dead. Of the 306 bodies which were recovered during the Mackay-Bennett's seven-day search, 116 were buried at sea and 190 were brought back to Halifax to a make-shift morgue.
To document each body recovered, the provincial coroner of Nova Scotia prepared a list of all 306 bodies, including their clothing and personal effects, headed, "Record of Bodies and Effects, (Passengers and Crew S.S. "Titanic"), Recovered by Cable Steamer "Mackay-Bennett" including Bodies Buried at Sea and Bodies Delivered at Morgue in Halifax, N.S., Details Compiled from Records of the "Mackay-Bennett." The list was not prepared for public dissemination but was created to provide an accurate, official record of the victims and to help in making any future identifications, as the entries also included physical descriptions.
The list contains details on such notable victims as John Jacob Astor IV of New York (Body No. 124), the richest man on board, responsible for many iconic institutions including New York's Astoria, later Waldorf-Astoria, Hotel. There is mention also of Isidor Straus (Body No. 96) of Macy's Department Store.
After Astor's body was brought to Halifax, the captain of his yacht Noma, Richard Roberts, was sent by Astor's family to identify the body. Upon seeing it, Richards said, "It is he." This very list was subsequently obtained by Roberts. It is the only such list of which we are aware that was given to a victim's representative, likely owing to the importance of the Astor name. The name R. Roberts with his Brooklyn, New York address is pencilled onto the free end page, in another hand on the back of the last page is Miss Lalla Roberts, also of Brooklyn. The list remained in the Brooklyn, New York area until recently.
The first page is a key showing how the recovered bodies were disposed of, with numerous small numerical pencil notations added next to each key. The list consists of about 75 pages. The front and back purple covers are detached as is the last page containing entries for Body Nos. 303-306. The last page and both covers have some losses not affecting text. The interior is clean and provides a primary source of body recovery information, as the list was officially prepared by the provincial coroner. It is an important piece of the body recovery aspect of the sinking and of Titanic's overall story, with the exceptional additional aspect of being related to John Jacob Astor. Astor is buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City.
Approx. 8½ins. x 13ins. Original binding consists of nothing more than two paper clips at the top. A singularly important piece of history directly related to one of the most high profile and important men on the Titanic