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Lot 184
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Exceedingly Rare Archibald Gracie letter with "Titanic" Content
Exceedingly Rare Archibald Gracie letter with "Titanic" Content
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Description:

Titanic - Exceedingly Rare Archibald Gracie letter with "Titanic" Content: he was one of the first survivors to die after the tragedy late in 1912 before his book "The Truth About the Titanic" was published



Typed Letter Signed "Archibald Gracie," 1 page, 7.75" x 10.5." On his letterhead. Washington, D.C., September 26, 1912. To Louis M. Ogden, London, England. Minor folds. Fine condition.


In full, "I wonder if my various letters have reached you? I am anxious that I may have the best copied possible of your pictures illustrating my coming book. I wrote you on the 26th ult., and your Mr. Keale replied that he was forwarding my letter to you, and that you would not return until December 4th next [ironically, the day Gracie died].

"Your name will, of course, appear in my book as having taken these pictures, each of which being properly accredited. It is a mortification to me that the New York HERALD did not put your name and properly accredit the pictures to you and copyright same. Mr. Bennett [James Gordon Bennett, Jr., publisher of the "New York Herald"] was very angry with his employes for not having done so. I hope it is not too late to obtain the films in order to enlarge the pictures so as to establish the identity of persons in each open boat.

"I feel quite sure that my book will be read with great interest, as many facts are established not hitherto brought to light. Pardon my haste, but I want to get this on tomorrow's steamer."

Col. Archibald Gracie (1858-1912) died in New York on December 4, 1912. He had served as colonel in the 7th New York Militia. In part, from his obituary in The New York Times, "In the wreck of the Titanic Col. Gracie was still clinging to the rail of the topmost deck after the wave had passed that swept her just before her final plunge. 'When the ship plunged down,' he said in one of his first accounts of the tragedy, 'I was forced to let go, and I was swirled around and around for what seemed an interminable time. Eventually I came to the surface to find the sea a mass of tangled wreckage. Luckily, I was unhurt, and, casting about, managed to seize a wooden grating floating near by. When I had recovered my breath I discovered a large canvas and cork life-raft which had floated up ‰Û_ When dawn broke there were thirty of us on the raft, standing knee deep in the icy water and afraid to move lest the cranky craft be overturned. Several unfortunates, benumbed and half dead, besought us to save them and one or two made an effort to reach us, but we had to warn them away. The hours that elapsed before we were picked up by the Carpathia were the longest and most terrible that I ever spent. We were afraid to turn around and look to see whether we were seen by passing craft, and when some one who was facing the stern passed the word that something that looked like a steamer was coming up, one of the men became hysterical under the strain. The rest of us, too, were near the breaking point.'"

At the time of his death, Col. Gracie had not finished his book. He had planned a final chapter to deal with the causes and the lessons taught. Col. Gracie mentions Ogden in his book, The Truth About the Titanic (New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 1913): "I am particularly grateful to a number of kind people on the Carpathia who helped replenish my wardrobe, but especially to Mr. Louis M. Ogden, a family connection and old friend. To Mrs. Ogden ‰Û_ I am also most grateful. " He also reproduced four photographs taken by Ogden from the Carpathia.

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