Titanic Letter Sails Off with $14K at Auction
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Letter written aboard ill-fated vessil on White Star stationary
A letter written aboard the Titanic by George Graham, a T. Eaton Co. Ltd., department store buyer from Winnipeg who died in the sinking, sold at auction in New York on Friday for $14,000 U.S., according to Canada.com.
The price was well above the anticipated $10,000 U.S. pre-sale price that had been anticipated by the Spinks Smythe auction house, suggesting that in spite of tough economic times, there is still a collectors market for Titanic memorabilia as the 2012 centennial of the disaster approaches.
Graham's letter, on White Star Line Company stationary, was written to a business associate, a Mr. Depmeyer in Berlin on April 10, 1912 as the ship set sail on its maiden and only voyage. It sank on April 14 after hitting an iceberg.
It was posted in Cherbourg, the French port where Titanic stopped to pick up passengers. Graham's note appears to be an apology for a missed business transaction, and unlike most letters that survive, doesn't mention anything about the ship.
"I am sorry that I neglected to send you a wire on the first of April but I forgot all about it until Tuesday, you see," it reads.
"I arrived in London late Sunday and I was very busy all day Monday and I forgot all about it, however. I hope that you will accept my good wishes now, even if they are a bit late."
Because the stationary carries the ship's logo, a white star in a red banner and states Written on Board RMS Titanic, it is sought after by collectors.
Graham had been on a buying trip to Belgium, Austria and Prussia, and had been upgraded to a first-class stateroom aboard Titanic. Originally from St. Mary's Ont., he worked for Eaton's in Toronto, but was sent to Winnipeg to run the crockery and fine china department when the company opened its store in the Manitoba capital in 1906.
Graham had been reluctant to leave Winnipeg for the spring buying trip. His wife, Edith May, recently had suffered a miscarriage, and he didn't want to leave her alone. In fact, he was scheduled to sail back to Canada aboard the Mauretania, but when he discovered he could get home three days earlier aboard the luxurious Titanic, he changed his travel plans.
His wife was to meet him in Toronto, and when she arrived there a day after the ship went down she received a wireless message from her husband saying he was "well" and arriving in New York. She assumed her husband had survived. It was only after Eaton company executives went to New York that it was discovered the message had been sent from Titanic two days before it hit the iceberg, and that there had been a delay in transmitting it to Toronto.
His body was recovered from the ocean and is now buried in St. Mary's, Ont.
Graham's letter was one of two that was sold Friday. The other, written by Adolf Saalfeld, a Manchester, England perfume manufacturer, to his wife Gertrude, sold for $6,500.
In his note, he claimed to be "the first man to write a letter on board."
He writes: "I just had an hours roaming (about) on this wonderful boat . . . I like my cabin (C-106) very much. It is like a bed-sitting room & rather large . . . they are still busy to finish the last touches onboard."
Saalfeld, who survived the disaster, died in 1926.
The perfume samples he was carrying aboard the ship were recovered from the wreck site in 2000. The vials of perfume are currently on display in Montreal and the scents can still be smelled at the Titanic Artifact Exhibition in the Eaton Centre there.
Spinks-Smythe autograph specialist Robert Litzenberger, who handled the sale, said even though Saalfield's letter was more personal than Graham's, and should have been worth more, it brought a lower price because he didn't die in the sinking.
"Graham died and did not live to write any more letters," said Litzenberger.
"His story has more to do with the romance of Titanic."
(Pictured: We couldn't find a picture of the letter in question but couldn't resist posting this terrific picture of the Titanic we found online.)
A letter written aboard the Titanic by George Graham, a T. Eaton Co. Ltd., department store buyer from Winnipeg who died in the sinking, sold at auction in New York on Friday for $14,000 U.S., according to Canada.com.The price was well above the anticipated $10,000 U.S. pre-sale price that had been anticipated by the Spinks Smythe auction house, suggesting that in spite of tough economic times, there is still a collectors market for Titanic memorabilia as the 2012 centennial of the disaster approaches.
Graham's letter, on White Star Line Company stationary, was written to a business associate, a Mr. Depmeyer in Berlin on April 10, 1912 as the ship set sail on its maiden and only voyage. It sank on April 14 after hitting an iceberg.
It was posted in Cherbourg, the French port where Titanic stopped to pick up passengers. Graham's note appears to be an apology for a missed business transaction, and unlike most letters that survive, doesn't mention anything about the ship.
"I am sorry that I neglected to send you a wire on the first of April but I forgot all about it until Tuesday, you see," it reads.
"I arrived in London late Sunday and I was very busy all day Monday and I forgot all about it, however. I hope that you will accept my good wishes now, even if they are a bit late."
Because the stationary carries the ship's logo, a white star in a red banner and states Written on Board RMS Titanic, it is sought after by collectors.
Graham had been on a buying trip to Belgium, Austria and Prussia, and had been upgraded to a first-class stateroom aboard Titanic. Originally from St. Mary's Ont., he worked for Eaton's in Toronto, but was sent to Winnipeg to run the crockery and fine china department when the company opened its store in the Manitoba capital in 1906.
Graham had been reluctant to leave Winnipeg for the spring buying trip. His wife, Edith May, recently had suffered a miscarriage, and he didn't want to leave her alone. In fact, he was scheduled to sail back to Canada aboard the Mauretania, but when he discovered he could get home three days earlier aboard the luxurious Titanic, he changed his travel plans.
His wife was to meet him in Toronto, and when she arrived there a day after the ship went down she received a wireless message from her husband saying he was "well" and arriving in New York. She assumed her husband had survived. It was only after Eaton company executives went to New York that it was discovered the message had been sent from Titanic two days before it hit the iceberg, and that there had been a delay in transmitting it to Toronto.
His body was recovered from the ocean and is now buried in St. Mary's, Ont.
Graham's letter was one of two that was sold Friday. The other, written by Adolf Saalfeld, a Manchester, England perfume manufacturer, to his wife Gertrude, sold for $6,500.
In his note, he claimed to be "the first man to write a letter on board."
He writes: "I just had an hours roaming (about) on this wonderful boat . . . I like my cabin (C-106) very much. It is like a bed-sitting room & rather large . . . they are still busy to finish the last touches onboard."
Saalfeld, who survived the disaster, died in 1926.
The perfume samples he was carrying aboard the ship were recovered from the wreck site in 2000. The vials of perfume are currently on display in Montreal and the scents can still be smelled at the Titanic Artifact Exhibition in the Eaton Centre there.
Spinks-Smythe autograph specialist Robert Litzenberger, who handled the sale, said even though Saalfield's letter was more personal than Graham's, and should have been worth more, it brought a lower price because he didn't die in the sinking.
"Graham died and did not live to write any more letters," said Litzenberger.
"His story has more to do with the romance of Titanic."
(Pictured: We couldn't find a picture of the letter in question but couldn't resist posting this terrific picture of the Titanic we found online.)
posted by Chris and Frank at 12:01 AM
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