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CONTEMPORARY SIGNED TITANIC SURVIVOR`S ACCOUNT): An outstanding historic first-hand account of th...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,500.00 USD
CONTEMPORARY SIGNED TITANIC SURVIVOR`S ACCOUNT): An outstanding historic first-hand account of th...
CONTEMPORARY SIGNED TITANIC SURVIVOR`S ACCOUNT): An outstanding historic first-hand account of the sinking of the Titanic and the rescue of its passengers, signed by one of the survivors only a year after the disaster. The 27pp. 4to. typed manuscript was prepared by an unnamed passenger on the Carpathia, the primary Titanic rescue vessel which arrived on the scene the morning after the sinking. Apparently, this typescript was prepared for a speech to be given by its author, who makes references to "signed" accounts of the disaster by survivors, and included his photographs of the ice field and survivors aboard the Carpathia. This incredibly detailed history includes first-hand accounts gathered onboard the Carpathia by the author, including survivors C. E. Henry Stengel, Algernon H. Barkworth (who signs the typescript on the last page), Eugene Daly, Washington Dodge, and a short statement by Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon. Barkworth was one of the survivors who clung to an overturned raft and nearly froze while awaiting rescue. His account reads, in part: "...We were aroused by a grinding crash which caused the ship to tremble...we heard the order given out to put on our life belts...I noticed that the band was playing a waltz tune. Soon afterwards we went to see the boats lowered...I decided that the only thing to do was to jump for my life and having shaken hands with my two best friends I climbed upon the boat deck railing and dropped into the sea...coming across a floating plank I rested upon it...I saw the Titanic disappear with a volley of loud reports...[I] came upon an upturned boat...the screams of the drowning women and men were terrible. Several more people climbed upon the stern of our boat which was now full and we were compelled to keep away any one else from getting upon it...". The other accounts of the tragedy (unsigned), are equally revealing. For example, Daly is identified as the steerage passenger who cut free the raft to which Barkworth clung. His account reads, in part: "...We were all held down in the steerage...we had quite a number of hot headed Italians...who got crazy and made for the stairs...pushing and crowding and pulling the women down. Some of them with weapons in their hands. I saw two Dagoes shot...My God if only I could forget those women's cries. I reached a collapsible boat...I could see the enormous funnels of the Titanic being submerged...[people] were sucked down the funnels...succeeded in reaching the same boat that I had tried to set free...One man was alongside and asked if he could get upon it. We told him that if he did we would all go down. His reply was 'God bless you, goodby'...". It is clear that following his obtaining of these accounts first-hand aboard the Carpathia, the author typed copies of this manuscript and sent it to those whom he had interviewed for their approval and signature, this being the copy sent to Barkworth. This is the only such Titanic survivor's account we have seen, and being signed by an adult survivor it is exceedingly rare. Letterheads have been neatly excised, binder holes in left margins, overall very good. $1,500-2,500