Online auction for 240 Titanic artifacts

This schematic illustration obtained April 3, 2014, courtesy of RR Auction shows a rare original cross-section and plan labeled “S. S. ‘Titanic,’” in the lower left corner and marked “No. 8” in the upper right corner, 30″ x 26″, drawn to a scale of 1/32 inches to one foot, and rubber stamped by Harland and Wolff, with a handwritten date within the stamp of May 1, 1912, just one day before the opening statements were given at the British enquiry, at which this plan was used. RR Auction will feature the Titanic’s original building plans that include hand-drawn notations, used during the official British enquiry into the most devastating maritime tragedy in history in its upcoming Titanic themed auction, later this month. This piece was discovered at the old Cunard Line office, which merged with White Star Line in 1934. Originally sold by Onslow’s in London, on April 15, 1987, the plan then went on display at the Ulster Museum in Belfast. It was then offered at auction by Henry Aldridge & Son, at which time it became a part of a private collection. It has since been on display at the Titanic Museum in Branson, Missouri. AFP PHOTO/RR AUCTION/HANDOUT

WASHINGTON – Hundreds of artifacts linked to the doomed luxury liner Titanic will be sold online this month and could fetch as much as a million dollars, Boston-based auction house RR said on Thursday.

RR, specializing in documents, manuscripts and historic artifacts, said it will put some 240 objects from the famous vessel on sale online, amid enduring fascination with the doomed luxury liner more than a century after it sank.

RR, specializing in documents, manuscripts and historic artifacts, said the sale will be held from April 17 to 24.

Once thought to be unsinkable, the Titanic struck an iceberg and went down in the North Atlantic in 1912, killing more than 1,500 people.

The objects to be sold include letters, photos, objects from the vessel and items which once belonged to survivors.

The object with the highest starting price is a silver cup presented on May 29, 1912 by a survivor, Margaret “Molly” Brown, to Arthur Rostron, the captain of the ship that plucked survivors from the frigid ocean.

Brown, a wealthy socialite, became famous for surviving the disaster, and was known after her death as “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” celebrated in the 1960 Broadway musical of the same name.

Another item of interest is an April 2, 1912 letter, on stationery bearing the famous ship’s letterhead, written by a crew member who did not survive the disaster. Bidding for the letter starts at $1,000.

Other items to be sold include a fragment from the Titanic’s grand staircase, and copies of newspapers which published front page reports about the catastrophe, including the New York Times, The Illustrated London News and The New York Evening Post.

RR said it expects the auction to earn between $700,000 and a million dollars.