Titanic letter sold for £55k - 19/04/2010

A letter written by a passenger on the Titanic has been sold for £55,000 at auction, the highest price ever paid for correspondence from the infamous ship.

The first class traveller's letter, which is addressed to 'wifey' and written on three sides of stationery with HMS Titanic heading, was bought by an anonymous British museum at the Wiltshire sale.

It is dated five days before April 15th 1912, when the ship hit the iceberg, and offers detailed information about what it was like to be a passenger on the maiden voyage.

Andrew Aldridge, from Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers, said: "The content is superb.

"It gives a real first-person perspective of what life was like onboard, through the eyes of a first-class passenger, right down to the food, the size of the cabin and the decoration."

The Guardian recently reported that a brochure for the Titanic, which includes a small sketch depicting the view that passengers could expect to see if they travelled on the ship, is also to go under the hammer.