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The whole volume 171 offered (Weekly, Nos. 4340 to 4365, January 3 to June 27, 1953). Illustrated. Includes the Index for Volume 171. 25x17 cm. (10x6¾"), custom-bound in later half morocco & marbled boards, spine ruled & lettered in gilt, cloth slipcase. The pertinent articles comprise:

• Watson, James D. & Francis Crick. Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. Pp. 737-8 in Nature, No. 4356, Vol. 171, April 25, 1952. Signed by Watson & Crick at the beginning of the article.
• Wilkins, Maurice H.F., A.R. Stokes & H.R. Wilson. Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids. Pp. 738-740 in Nature, No. 4356, Vol. 171, April 25, 1952.
• Franklin, Rosalind E.  & R.G. Gosling. Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate.  Pp. 740-741 in Nature, No. 4356, Vol. 171, April 25, 1952.
• Watson, James D. & Francis Crick. Genetic Implications of the Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid. Pp. 964-967 in Nature, No. 4361, Vol. 171, May 30, 1953. Signed by Watson & Crick at the beginning of the article.

The seminal first articles describing the DNA molecule - with two of the articles signed by both Watson and Crick - here offered in their original journal format in the bound volume 171 of Nature. These articles were to profoundly alter the understanding of the genetic process, and also containing the first illustrations of the double helix structure of the molecule. The first article is followed by the article "Molecular Structure of Deoxypentose Nucleic Acids" by M.H.F. Wilkins, A.R. Stokes and H.R. Wilson, with thanks and acknowledgement to Watson and Crick. Following that is the article "Molecular Configuration in Sodium Thymonucleate" by Rosalind E. Franklin and R.G. Gosling. The discovery of DNA was the signature development in the understanding of genetics, marking the transition between two ages of what might be called the "classical age" of biology and a second "age" of molecular biology. Watson, Crick and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology of Medicine in 1962 "for their discoveries concerning the molecular structure of nucleic acids and its significance for information transfer in living material." The Journal format of the first article pre-dates its offprint, though the priority of the second is uncertain. The presence of both of the important first articles by Watson and Crick in their original journal appearances, with each of the articles signed by the two scientists, is of great rarity. Nor should the presence of other articles of profound significance in the volume be overlooked, notably including those of Wilkins, Stokes and Wilson, and Franklin and Gosling. Rubberstamp of British Department of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry Library, to title page. Provenance: Samuel Hessel.