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Henry Aldridge & Son The Devizes Auctioneers
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Lillian Asplund Titanic Collection Press Release Henry Aldridge and Son are honoured to be auctioning the complete collection of the last American Titanic Survivor Miss Lillian Asplund. Miss Asplund passed away on 6th May 2006 at the age of 99. The archive is being sold by direct descent and has never been published or on public display in its entirety before. The artefacts were kept together in Miss Asplund's home and kept in a box where they remained until after her passing. Carl and Selma Asplund immigrated to America in 1891/92 and married in 1896. They had five children: Oscar 13 , Clarence 9, Lillian 5, Carl Edgar 5 and Felix 3. They moved back to Sweden in 1907 due to family commitments, deciding to return to Worcester, Massachusetts in 1912 having booked passage with the White Star Line to get there.
On the night
of the disaster the whole family were gathered and according to Selma
had decided to die together. They were standing by one of the last
lifeboats to leave when suddenly Felix and Lillian were thrown into a
lifeboat. Carl then pushed Selma towards lifeboat number 15, when there
was a cry: "Bring the children’s' mother down!” before Selma understood
what was happening a sailor grabbed her and threw her into the boat. She
just had time to see her husband and the three children rush to the
other side of the Titanic, to find another lifeboat. in the mean time an
unknown man jumped into Selma's boat, he landed awkwardly and in doing
so kicked Selma in the face. He then placed his hand over her mouth
to prevent her from screaming and thus getting the attention from the
sailor in charge. The collection comprises of a number of significant items including a pocket watch which stopped at the exact moment the Titanic sank, one of only a handful of remaining tickets for the Titanic’s maiden voyage and the only example of a forward emigration order for the Titanic thought to exist. Lillian Asplund was a very private person and because of the terrible events she witnessed that cold April night in 1912 rarely spoke about the tragedy which claimed the lives of her father and three brothers. The watch is one of the most iconic lots in the auction as the hands are frozen in time at 2.19am, a moment before Titanic sank beneath the waves and when Carl Asplund entered the frozen waters of the North Atlantic. The collection also contains Carl and Selma Asplund's wedding rings, unpublished family photographs, keys recovered from Carl which may well have held the families savings, two pocket books, important correspondence from the White Star Line and numerous other previously unseen items. Within one of the books is a handwritten note, possibly copied from a publicity flyer extolling the virtues of starting a new life in California, showing Carl was looking at their future plans. "California wants people like you, now is your time to come here. We have green grass and wild flowers at this time of year and all the facilities you can have" One of the most emotional lots in the collection is a letter written by Carl Asplund’s mother and Lillian's Grandmother 16 months after the tragedy In it she states how much her eyes hurt from where she has been in mourning. She writes "My nerves are so weak and my eyes are so poor because I have been crying so much but I hope that my grieving days soon will have an end and I will join the final rest where God has promised to wipe out the tears from all the faces." The collection is without doubt one of the most important of its type to be offered in recent years. It historical and financial value is measured in not only the quality of the material involved but also because Miss Asplund was last survivor with memories of the disaster and also the last American survivor to pass. It is estimated to sell for between £80000-£120000 ($160000-$240000) at auction on April 19th at 1pm GMT. Illustrated colour catalogues are available for £15. Please also see the following websites for further coverage: www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=547450&in_page_id=1770 www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/03/28/secrets-of-the-titanic-survivor-89520-20365275/ www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article969293.ece www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/28/ntitanic128.xml |
