^Lot 1088 Edward G. Robinson

TLS, one page, 7 x 10, personal letterhead, October 5, 1959. Letter to an admirer. In part: “You ask, ‘In your opinion, who is the greatest living American and why?’ The first part of your question is easily answered,––Eleanor Roosevelt; but to adequately answer the second part, volumes would be required. Eleanor Roosevelt’s great work in the realm of human relations, both on a national and international scale, is well known, but only history will give perspective to the magnitude of her accomplishments. She shared with her husband…love and compassion for all people, and directed her role as the First Lady, not to the traditional function of superficial social activity, but in service to humanity’s needs, declining to merely pay lip service to a theory of the brotherhood of man, but working to make it a living ideal…we Americans should be proud of her, and grateful for her generous givingness.” In fine condition, with a light vertical fold through a single letter of signature and a bit of trivial soiling. An insightful and articulate letter from the actor who would appropriately receive the first Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award four years later in 1963.