Scott of the Antarctic's Dying Letter Sets Polar Record

London – The first of the farewell letters written in the Antarctic by Captain Robert Scott as he realised that he and his team would not survive has been sold by Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts department in London for £415,000. It establishes a new world auction record for a Polar artefact.

The letter, which was found on Scott's body in November 1912, was written on the 16 March of that year to financier Sir Edgar Speyer, honorary treasurer of the fund-raising committee for the ill-fated trip. In it, Scott expresses his great concerns for his family and the families of his companions and asks that the nation provide for their future. It was one of twelve farewell letters found with Scott. Seven of them are currently held in institutions and the whereabouts of four others are unrecorded