Rare Titanic menu estimated to be worth £30-£40,000 is up for sale at maritime auction at Nesbits in Southsea

Next month, a ‘pocket-sized’ menu from the doomed passenger liner - believed to be only one of two in existence - will be up for grabs at Nesbits in Clarendon Road.

Auctioneer John Cameron said: ‘The menu is dated April 14, 1912, and is a first-class dinner menu so it’s from the last dinner on board - at 11.40pm, she strikes an iceberg.

‘This was the last meal had by first-class passengers on board.’

The White Star Line menu is the star lot in the maritime sale at Nesbits on April 13, when a number of rare items will be put up for auction.

It is estimated to be worth around £30,000 to £40,000, although a similar menu was recently sold for $118,000.

John said: ‘I specialise in maritime and militaria, having grown up in Portsmouth and being an auctioneer.

‘You have to satisfy yourself that you think it’s right. In our opinion, it’s perfect, it’s right.

‘The only thing that isn’t clear is its provenance.

‘It came in privately from a vendor who wishes to remain anonymous. She purchased a lot of letters and correspondence from Lady Martin-Harvey, an actress who went by the name Nell de Silva. Her husband was part of the Lyceum Theatre Group.

‘The couple would have been on those types of ships and with those types of people, but we don’t find their names in the passenger list.

‘It was found with some letters from her estate. That’s all we know about it.’

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The tiny item folds in half and is only 14cm by 10.5cm.

It is almost identical to another example, currently on loan at the Belfast Titanic museum.

John said: ‘Menus have been collected since the early days of cruising.

‘The actual menu on the inside is identical to the menu in Belfast. They were printed by the same place.’

The auctioneer explained that similar menus were used on other Olympic-class ocean liners, and each menu could be slightly personalised for different ships.

He added: ‘It stands to reason that if you have four ships of a class you don’t need to print individual stationary for all of them.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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