Here I Stand

New York: Othello Associates, 1958. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good/fair. Octavo, 128pp. A very good copy in the publisher's light blue boards. A touch shaken, but a sound, clean copy. In a fair dust jacket, with numerous chips and tears, and tape repairs to the verso at the spine. This copy SIGNED and very warmly INSCRIBED by Eslanda Goode Robeson, Paul's wife, on the front free endpaper, to famed composer Oscar Hammerstein II, who composed the music for "Show Boat," a production in which Robeson had his start in the popular theatre: "For Oscar Hamemrstein 2nd with thanks for your remarks in the Mike Wallace interview. Sincerely, Eslanda Robeson." On March 15, 1958, this interview aired on CBS. At the end of the interview, which touched on both artistic and political questions, Wallace asked Hammerstein what he thought of Paul Robeson, whose rendition of Hammerstein's "Ol' Man River" was so loved by the public. Hammerstein, a liberal who was no doubt conscious of the danger in this period of associating with a communist in public, carefully stated that he diverged with Robeson on some political questions, but refused to stand in judgment on his views, continuing: "I wonder how I would feel if I were the son of a minister, a Phi Beta Kappa student at Rutgers, an All-American tackle, a tall, handsome man; a singer, an actor, an athlete, [voice rising] and could not live in the same hotel as the other members in my theatrical troupe! I would be good and sore, and I don't know what I might do." No doubt Mrs. Robeson was pleased to hear a major figure in American popular music voice this kind of solidarity with her besieged husband. A pleasing association copy. (Note that the book is not signed by Paul Robeson).