Lot 86: WATSON, James Dewey (1928-) and Francis Harry Compton CRICK (1916-2004). 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids.' Offprint from: Nature , vol. 171. London: Fisher, Knight & Co. Ltd., for Macmillan & Co., April 25, 1953.

WATSON, James Dewey (1928-) and Francis Harry Compton CRICK (1916-2004). 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids.' Offprint from: Nature, vol. 171. London: Fisher, Knight & Co. Ltd., for Macmillan & Co., April 25, 1953.

8° (210 x 139mm). 6 conjugate leaves and one half-leaf 7, 4 text illustrations including the double helix. Comprising 'A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid' by Watson and Crick, 'Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids' by Maurice Wilkins, Alec Stokes and Herbert Wilson, and 'Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate' by Rosalind Franklin and Ray Gosling. Self wrapper, stapled with the last leaf tipped at left edge onto preceeding page as issued.

THE IMPORTANT FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DISCOVERY OF DNA, SIGNED BY WATSON, CRICK, WILKINS, AND STOKES, THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT WORK IN THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE SCIENCES. This paper, with its memorable opening 'We wish to suggest a stucture for the salt of deoxrybose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological evidence,' correctly interpreted the crystalline structure of D.N.A. This discovery explained how heredity messages could be encoded in a crystalline structure that was stable in the latter sense and yet allowed for both replication and mutation. Their published paper was a complete work -- they did not reveal their work to the scientific community in stages -- and thus its impact was all the greater. THE PUBLICATION OF THEIR JOINT PAPER IN NATURE REVOLUTIONIZED BIOCHEMISTRY AND THE OTHER LIFE SCIENCES, AND PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED THE STUDY OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY.