Papers of M H F Wilkins: correspondence relating to James Watson’s book, 'The double helix'

Correspondence relating to James Watson’s book, The double helix: a personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, London, 1968), including: correspondence between Wilkins and John Edsall, Harvard University, Feb-Mar 1967, and letter from Wilkins to Thomas Wilson, Harvard University Press, May 1967, on Wilkins’ objections to the text; copy letter from Lawrence Bragg, Royal Institution, to Francis Crick, Apr 1967, with suggested amendments to Watson’s text; letters from Leonard Hamilton, Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA, 8 and 16 May 1967 and 6 Mar 1968, advising Wilkins on his legal approach to Harvard, to prevent publication of The double helix, on whether it libels Wilkins, his own opinion of the book, and whether or not Wilkins should respond in print; exchange of letters between Wilkins and Bruce Fraser, Wool Research Laboratories, Australia, Mar-Apr 1968, on the changes made to Watson’s text at Wilkins’ insistence, and on Fraser’s DNA model building at King’s College London, 1953.

1967-1999

3 files

King's College London; Hamilton, Leonard D.; Fraser, (Robert Donald) Bruce,

Available at King’s College London, Archives and Special Collections, subject to signature of reader's undertaking form.

A digitised copy is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

The original material is held at King’s College London, Archives and Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.