The Double Helix : Signed By The Nobel Laureate Author Watson, James D. Nobel,Science,signed

The First UK Printing published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London in 1968. The BOOK is in near FINE condition with no erasures or markings. The book has a very slight lean. Some fading to the purple top-stain. The purple boards are very clean. The gilt titling to the spine and the gilt double helix design on the spine remain very bright. There is a some light pushing to the spine ends and a little toning and light spotting in places to the text block. The pages are clean. The WRAPPER is in near FINE condition with only the slightest of rubbing and edge-wear. Slight fading of the purple colouring of the publisher's logo to the lower spine end. The wrapper is notoriously fragile for becoming chipped and marked but this wrapper is one of the nicest we have handled to date. The wrapper is complete with the correct price of '35s. net'. The Dorothy Judd designed wrapper looks striking and is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. This copy has been warmly inscribed and signed in blue ink by the Nobel Laureate to the title page : 'For John, Jim Watson'. A copy of the ticket for the signing event accompanies this title for provenance. Housed in a custom solander box with gilt titling. At the time of listing this is one of the few UK first editions available signed by James Watson. Foreword by Sir Lawrence Bragg. Rare signed by both Watson and Crick. 'Science seldom proceeds in the straightforward logical manner imagined by outsiders,' writes James Watson in The Double Helix, his account of his codiscovery (along with Francis Crick) of the structure of DNA. Watson, Crick and Maurice Wilkins won Nobel Prizes for their work, and their names are memorized by biology students around the world. But as in all of history, the real story behind the deceptively simple outcome was messy, intense, and sometimes truly hilarious. To preserve the 'real' story for the world, James Watson attempted to record his first impressions as soon after the events of 1951-1953 as possible, with all their unpleasant realities and 'spirit of adventure' intact. "One of the investigators, more than any of the others, realized the decisive importance of the DNA molecules in biology, and it was this understanding which urged him relentlessly to push this work toward a successful conclusion, in spite of his rather modest technical qualifications for this task' (Mayr, 823). 'He has described admirably how it feels to have that frightening and beautiful experience of making a great scientific discovery' (Richard Feynman, winner of the 1965 Nobel Prize for Physics). A landmark title and as such extremely scarce with such attributes. More images available on request. Ashton Rare Books welcomes direct contact.