Next week, in Uruguay, an auction will be held that includes a letter written by one of the three Uruguayans who were on board the RMS Titanic before it sank on April 15, 1912. The auction house Zorrilla Subastas announced that the letter, written by Ramon Artagaveytia Gomez to his brother Adolfo on April 11, 1912, and sent from Queenstown, Ireland, will be offered for sale along with a dedicated photograph on the back. The base price for the letter is $12,000.
The letter reveals the awe and admiration of Ramon Artagaveytia Gomez, a 71-year-old agricultural businessman who was traveling first class, for the grandeur and luxury of the Titanic. He described the ship as new and rich, praising its size, quality, food, and attention received. However, at the time, he could not have imagined that he himself would meet his death in the icy waters of the North Atlantic, having survived a shipwreck in the past.
In addition to Ramon Artagaveytia Gomez, two other Uruguayans, two Argentines, a Cuban, and a Mexican were also part of the Titanic’s tragic maiden voyage. The letter has been in the possession of Adolfo Artagaveytia Gómez’s descendants for all these years and is written on the letterhead and watermark of the White Star Line, the British shipping company that owned the Titanic. The letter consists of two pages and three handwritten pages.
The missive is accompanied by a photograph of an elegant gentleman with a cane and hat, dated Evian, France, in 1909, with an affectionate dedication to Adolph. It is estimated that the value of the set (letter and photograph) will range between 15,000 and 25,000 dollars.
The Montevideo auction, scheduled for June 30, will include a total of 800 lots, including some 20 pieces from the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee. Among the highlights are a pair of binoculars from the Admiral Graf Spee, taken by a crew member before the ship was dynamited, with a base price of $7,000, and the dress jacket of Corporal Gottfried Link, a member of the German ship’s crew, with a base price of $1,500.