The letter, which contains “very interesting” details of life on the ill-fated Titanic, is expected to sell for around 35,000 pounds (about $47,000) at auction.
The letter, listed for sale by British auction house Henry Aldridge & Son, was written by a passenger named Henry Hodges and dated April 10, 1912, the day the RMS Titanic set sail.
In the letter, Hodges told his friend Hector about the “wonderful time” he had on board.
“I can’t see any ship movement at the moment, but the weather is very nice,” he wrote.
“About 200 boys (more than 20) are singing and marching on the top deck, and others are playing dominoes and cards in the tavern, reading and writing. Everything is completely different from what you would see at sea,” added Hodges, who died when the ship sank.
When the Titanic departed from Belfast, Northern Ireland on its maiden voyage, it was the largest passenger ship in operation and was considered “unsinkable.”
Just four days later, on April 14, the voyage turned into an international tragedy when the ship collided with an iceberg in the North Atlantic at 11:40 pm local time. She sank in less than three hours.
The ship did not have enough lifeboats to carry the approximately 2,220 people on board. More than 1,500 people lost their lives in the accident, making the Titanic the most famous shipwreck in history.
Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge told CNN on Tuesday that the letter is “an unusual letter on many levels.”
First, Hodges, a musical instrument salesman, was traveling for fun and was traveling in second class on his way to Boston to meet a friend.
“There is a lack of documentation regarding second-class passengers,” Aldridge said.
“Everyone knows about the third class, the immigrant element starting a new life. Everyone knows about the richest people who are on the first class,” he said. “But you know the story of second class isn’t really told that much.”
And second, Hodges’ letters reveal details about “the nuts and bolts of life on a ship,” Aldridge said, adding, “It’s really interesting.”
The letter has never been offered for sale before and is “completely new to the market,” Aldridge added.
It is being sold as part of an online auction, with bidding ending at 4pm UK time (11am Eastern time) on Sunday.
At the time of writing, the highest bid was 26,000 pounds ($35,000), on the lower end of the high estimate of 35,000 pounds.
