History of Molecular Biology Collection
This unparalleled collection documents the race to identify DNA’s double-helix structure and other significant developments that formed the foundation of molecular biology.
Considered one of the most significant scientific archives ever compiled, the History of Molecular Biology Collection includes the papers of Nobel laureates Aaron Klug and Max Perutz, plus unique materials from other Nobelists and celebrated scientists, including Rosalind Franklin, Francis Crick, James Watson, Maurice Wilkins, and Linus Pauling. Originally assembled by rare book dealer Jeremy Norman, sold to the J. Craig Venter Institute in 2005, and acquired by the Science History Institute in 2025, this archive documents the foundation of molecular biology and the race to describe the structure of DNA.
The collection includes the largest selection of archival papers outside of the U.K. from famed British chemist and X-ray crystallographer Rosalind Franklin. Among this treasure trove of notes, photographs, manuscripts, and correspondence is the jewel of the collection: Franklin’s own copy of Photo 51, the groundbreaking image used to reveal DNA’s structure. Taken in 1952 by Franklin and her PhD student, Raymond Gosling, Photo 51 displayed the X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA and provided the clearest evidence that DNA is in fact a double helix. A negative of this famous photo, a glass jar called a “desiccator” that removes moisture and humidity, and other historic artifacts used in Franklin and Gosling’s DNA experiments are also part of the collection.
Other gems found in the more than 100 acquired boxes include original laboratory notebooks from Crick, Gosling, and Klug from the 1950s, revealing the precise moments when each discovered another clue to decoding the secret of life. These files also show both collaboration and disputes among other leading scientists. For example, Perutz’s correspondence reveals his passionate attempt to repair his reputation, which was damaged after Watson’s allegation that Perutz had handed him a “confidential” report written by Franklin. Watson’s own account is also represented in an early draft of Honest Jim, a memoir later titled The Double Helix.
Access the Collection
The History of Molecular Biology Collection is already available to researchers in the Institute’s Othmer Library of Chemical History. Applications for fellowships open in October 2025, while research travel grants are reviewed on a rolling basis.
For Researchers
Researchers are invited to explore rare materials from such notable scientists as:
- Rosalind Franklin: her handwritten notes and prints of DNA (A & B forms), later known as Photo 51
- Raymond Gosling: his laboratory notebook (1951–1953) and doctoral thesis
- Francis Crick: his laboratory notebook from 1952
- James Watson: his first draft of Honest Jim (a memoir later titled The Double Helix), along with contemporary criticism of it
- Aaron Klug: his extensive archives, including his work on TMV (tobacco mosaic virus) and RNA (ribonucleic acid)
- Max Perutz: his correspondence files circa the late 1930s to 2000
- Max Delbrück: his lecture notes and correspondence with Leo Szilard
- Rollin Hotchkiss: his correspondence from 1948 to 1983
- Maurice Wilkins and Herbert Wilson: their notebooks and research files
- Select items from Sydney Brenner, Maurice Fox, Sven Furberg, Barbera McClintock, Linus Pauling, and others
Featured image at top: Negative of X-Ray Diffraction Images, acetate film negative containing X-ray diffraction images of A-form (left) and B-form (right) DNA created by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling, ca. 1952. The B-form image is known as Photo 51.
