The Double Helix

New York: Atheneum, 1968. First Edition. Hardcover. fine/very good. 1st edition of Watson's autobiographical account of his 1953 co-discovery of DNA with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins that won all 3 a Nobel Prize. Contemporary, signed presentation copy, and a fine association, inscribed in black ink, on the red endpaper, from Watson to George Wald, a 1967 Nobel laureate in Medicine, and Ruth Wald, an emeritus biology professor at Harvard, "For George and Ruth, from J-" (Watson and George Wald were colleagues and friends at Harvard). A thin line of fading to the base of the spine but near fine in a dustjacket with a short tear to the top of the spine and slight wear to the corners, else near fine. For a long time, the only signed 1st editions of The Double Helix were presentation copies (gifts from the author), almost all of them inscribed at the time of publication because Watson soon ran out of 1st editions and was loath to buy more during the short time they were available. After that he refused requests to sign the book Then he wrote other books, and did some book signings for them, and at those signings he relented, and also signed The Double Helix (vows are made in a state of mind that is going to change). So, real presentation copies are 20 times scarcer, and understandably more substantial and valuable than those that are just autographed, especially when they are, as here, both a close social and professional association.

And by the way, straight signatures are much easier to fake than longer inscriptions that have more handwriting and often have a recipient's name to trace them to, and the most accomplished counterfeiters can forge a simple signature beyond detection by experts because both the best forgers and authenticators know the same tells, habits, details, and subtleties and, for that reason, thousands of autographs done by the most skillful villains (not those by incompetent fabricators or innocent secretaries) have been authenticated as genuine, while fewer long inscriptions have slipped past any half serious examination.