Photos documenting Titanic rescue operation sold for USD 45K

Image: British Govt archive/Wikipedia

Boston: An incredible photo album with more than 500 first-generation glossy and matte-finish pictures, including those documenting the Titanic rescue operation has been auctioned for USD 45,000 in the US.

The album belonged to Louis M Ogden, a New York socialite aboard the RMS Carpathia - the ship that rescued survivors of the Titanic.

The photographs document the globe-spanning expedition of Ogden and his wife taken between 1911 and 1912, who recorded their trips across the world, according to RR auctions in the US.

The album is highlighted by an assortment of 50 photos, ranging in size from 2.75 x 3 inches to 4.75 x 6.75 inches, which chronicle life aboard the Carpathia and the mid-April 1912 rescue of the Titanic survivors.

The most significant of the Carpathia and Titanic photos are found on six successive pages midway through the album, which Ogden has dedicated: "The Titanic Rescue, April 15th 1912," the auction house said.

The section features a total of 29 photos and includes images, the approach and rescue of Titanic emergency lifeboats one, six and 14, and an unprecedented assemblage of 11 photos of icebergs, with images depicting them floating both nearby and on the distant horizon of the North Atlantic.

One of the photo captures the very peak responsible for sinking the Titanic, which Ogden has decreed as "The berg the Titanic struck, taken at sunrise."

Other notable photos feature various crew members and passengers of the RMS Carpathia, as well as several of Captain Arthur Rostron, two of which are signed by him in fountain pen, "A H Rostron".

While condition of the album itself is rough (missing spine and cover, fragile pages, etc), the photos themselves are in overall fine condition.