Francis Crick, 15 October 1954

CRICK, Francis (1916-2004). Typed letter signed (“Francis”) to Leonard Hamilton, Cambridge, 15 October 1954.

One page, recto and verso, 242 x 198mm (light spot towards bottom), three words in manuscript. On blue Air Mail paper, with typed addresses of Hamilton and of Crick on the verso.

Mentioning both Maurice Wilkins and Rosalind Franklin, regarding the publication of X-ray photographs of DNA in Scientific American. Crick writes to explain to his colleague in New York that the lack of acknowledgment of him in the recent article he wrote for Scientific American (“The Structure of the Hereditary Material,” 1 October 1954) was “really not my fault.” Crick continues, “The Editor rang me up at Woods Hole, and suggested that there should be some [pictures]. I told him he would have to get in touch with Rosalind Franklin, and/or with Maurice, whose address I gave them. That was the last I heard of it. I only had galley proofs, and the first time I knew there were any X-ray pictures (or saw any of the illustrations) was when I opened the Scientific American a week or so ago. I suppose Maurice did not put in an acknowledgement to you because he thought I would.”

Meaty letter from Francis Crick to a collaborator, still in the relatively early days after the great discovery and, including Crick, mentioning three of the four discovers. This letter typifies the jockeying for acknowledgement that continues even 70 years on. Dr. Hamilton provided DNA samples for photography in Franklin and Wilkins’ lab.