Rare set of Titanic plans sold for £30,000

The deck plans, owned by a wealthy New York family who drowned at sea, were handed to the 324 first class passengers as they boarded the liner at Southampton in 1912 to help them find their way around.

Ida and Isidor Straus died side-by-side after Mrs Straus refused a place on a lifeboat to remain with her husband. They drowned at sea along with 1,495 others.

Their maid, Ellen Bird, survived, and kept the couple’s deck plan.

It is thought to be one of only three in existence and has been in the hands of a private collector since her death in 1949.

Despite the deck plan’s age and fragile condition, the delicate document has remained in one piece.

The plan, which folds down to a booklet, is headed “White Star Line, Southampton-Cherbourg-New York Service, First Class Accommodation”.

Mr Straus, 63, was a wealthy businessman who owned the Macey’s department store in New York. He and his family were returning to America on Titanic following a holiday in Europe.

A photo of Mr Straus was also sold to the buyer of the deck plan for £17,000.

The plan was sold by auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son, which said the human stories associated with the Titanic disaster made its memorabilia very popular with collectors.

Andrew Aldridge said: “Isidor Straus was one of the wealthiest people on the ship and original material relating to his and his party’s time on board Titanic is practically non-existent.

“To have something directly related to Straus which was on the ship is a collector’s dream.”

Other top sellers included the first-class D deck toilet keys, which made £43,000 and the Birma log archive that documented the final signals Titanic sent, selling for £32,000.