[The six milestone papers on the structure of DNA in original wrappers:] 1. WATSON, J. D. & CRICK, F. H. C. Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid; 2. WILKINS, M. H. F., STOKES, A. R. & WILSON, H. R. Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids; 3. FRANKLIN, R. E. & GOSLING, R. G. Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate, pp. 737-41 in Nature, Vol. 171, No. 4356, April 25, 1953. 4. WATSON, J. D. & CRICK, F. H. C. Genetical Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid, pp. 964-7 in Nature, Vol. 171, No. 4361, May 30, 1953. 5. FRANKLIN, R. E. & GOSLING, R. G. Evidence for 2-Chain Helix in Crystalline Structure of Sodium Deoxyribonucleate, pp. 156-7 in Nature, Vol. 172, No. 4369, Ju

A VERY FINE SET OF THE DNA PAPERS. First edition, in the form in which they first appeared, of six crucial papers documenting the discovery of the structure of DNA and the mechanism of the genetic code. The first is Watson & Crick's paper 'Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid', which "records the discovery of the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the main component of chromosomes and the material that transfers genetic characteristics in all life forms. Publication of this paper initiated the science of molecular biology. Forty years after Watson and Crick's discovery, so much of the basic understanding of medicine and disease has advanced to the molecular level that their paper may be considered the most significant single contribution to biology and medicine in the twentieth century" (One Hundred Books Famous in Medicine, p. 362). Watson & Crick's paper is here accompanied by their paper published one month later, 'Genetical Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid,' "in which they elaborated on their proposed DNA replication mechanism" (ibid.), together with one of the papers which provided the experimental data confirming their proposed structure, a follow up to 'Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids' by Wilkins et al. Also included is the 1961 paper 'General Nature of the Genetic Code for Proteins,' documenting Crick's team's efforts to crack the genetic code, amassing evidence suggesting that "the amino-acid sequence along the polypeptide chain of a protein is determined by the sequence of the bases along some particular part of the nucleic acid of the genetic material" (p. 1227), and that each acid was most likely coded by a group of three bases. In 1962, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material." The first three papers were issued together in offprint from, but the journal issue offered here preceded the offprint and is actually rarer on the market. DNA was first isolated by the Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher in 1869, and over the succeeding years many researchers investigated its structure and function, with some arguing that it may be involved in genetic inheritance. By the early 1950s this had become one of the most important questions in biology. Maurice Wilkins of King's College London and his colleague Rosalind Franklin were both working on DNA, with Franklin producing X-ray diffraction images of its structure. Wilkins also introduced his friend Francis Crick to the subject, and Crick and his partner James Watson began their own investigation at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, focusing on building molecular models. After one failed attempt in which they postulated a triple-helix structure, they were banned by the Cavendish from spending any additional time on the subject. But a year later, after seeing new X-ray diffraction images taken by Franklin (notably the famous 'Photo 51', which is reproduced in the third offered paper), they resumed their work and soon announced that not only had they discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, but even more importantly, that "the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material." When Watson and Crick's paper was submitted for publication in Nature, Sir Lawrence Bragg, the director of the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, and Sir John Randall of King's College agreed that the paper should be published simultaneously with those of two other groups of researches who had also prepared important papers on DNA: Maurice Wilkins, A.R. Stokes, and H.R. Wilson, authors of 'Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids,' and Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, who submitted the paper 'Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate.' The three.…