a) the reference number 8 to your unpublished work.

b) the acknowledgement.

If you would like either of these rewritten, please let us know. If we don’t hear from you within a day or so we shall assume that you have no objection to their present form.

This draft and another one addressed to one of the editors of Nature (which apparently was never mailed) show that Crick and Watson were at first under the impression that theirs was the only manuscript to be submitted at that time. Actually, the two groups at King’s submitted papers to Nature as well. In a brief note to Crick probably written on the same day, Wilkins says, “Herewith almost uncorrected draft. How should we refer to your note?” This accompanied a draft of Wilkins’s own manuscript. The third paper was by Rosalind Franklin and Raymond Gosling.

Once he realized the situation, Crick expressed his view that everyone should see everyone else’s manuscript: “It is not reasonable for letters to be sent jointly to Nature without having been read by all concerned. We want to see hers [Franklin’s], and I’ve no doubt she wishes to see ours.” Wilkins agreed. In a newly found letter dated “Mon.,” probably referring to Monday, March 23, he said, “We will post a copy of Rosy’s thing to you tomorrow,” adding, “Raymond and Rosy have your thing so everybody will have seen everybody else’s.”