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Ed Donahue

 
Reporter Mike Gracia

An inscription on the violin’s tailpiece

(New York Post) – A rosewood violin played by bandmaster Wallace Hartley 
(above) on the Titanic deck as the ship sank has been confirmed as being
authentic by investigators, and could soon be brought to auction.

Hartley led seven other band members in hymns to calm passengers as
they lined up for lifeboats.

He and the other musicians went down with the ship while performing
“Nearer, My God, To Thee.”

“When we first saw the violin, we had to keep a lid on our excitement,
because it was almost as if it was too good to be true,” said Titanic
auctioneer Andrew Aldridge, of Henry Aldridge and Son, who spent
seven years of research to confirm its authenticity.

“It is the most important artifact relating to the Titanic to ever emerge,
and probably the most valuable.”

It’s worth six figures, and will likely be sold in the near future. For now,
however, it will be exhibited in Wiltshire, England.

The instrument was found inside a leather valise, engraved with Hartley’s
initials, that was strapped to his body.

 
The Titanic in Cork harbour on the south coast of Ireland , 11 April 1912.