The isolation of crystalline vitamin A plus other materials
Publisher Information: 1932-1945.
From the Isolator of Vitamin A to the Discoverer of Vitamin E
Holmes, Harry Nicholls (1879-1958). (1) (with Ruth E. Corbet) The isolation of crystalline vitamin A. Offprint from Journal of the American Chemical Society 59 (1937). 2042-2047pp. Original printed wrappers. Inscribed by Holmes to Herbert M. Evans (1882-1971) on the front wrapper: “To Herbert M. Evans with the Compliments of Harry N. Holmes.” (2) Autograph letter signed to Evans. 1 page. Oberlin, April 21, 1945. 282 x 214 mm. (3) Black and white photograph of Holmes in his laboratory. 255 x 207 mm. Signed on the verso by Holmes: “Harry N. Holmes Oberlin College.” (4) (with Henry M. Leicester) The isolation of carotene. Offprint from Journal of the American Chemical Society 54 (1932). 716-720pp. Original printed wrappers. 236 x 160 mm. Together 4 items, plus cover addressed in Holmes’s hand to Evans with Evans’s pencil note “Isolation of crystalline Vitamin A” on the front. Very good to fine.
First Editions, Offprint Issues of nos. (1) and (3). Holmes and Corbet were the first to isolate vitamin A in pure crystalline form. Their paper, “The isolation of crystalline vitamin A,” was their first full-length description of their achievement, following a very brief announcement published in Science earlier in 1937 (see Garrison-Morton 1074). Holmes inscribed this copy to Herbert M. Evans, the co-discoverer of vitamin E (see Garrison-Morton 1070), after Evans had written to Holmes requesting a copy and other materials; this is explained in Holmes’s letter to Evans:
"The compliment of your request in your Feb. letter deserved an instant reply but delay in finding a photo—and a rush of work—delayed me.
"It was more than kind of you to call our isolation of crystalline vitamin A a “classic,” especially after the boorish attitude of Karrer at Zurich.
"And so I’m glad to send you, in separate packet, photo, reprint desired—and a few others that I hope may interest you."
No. (3) is the photograph Holmes sent to Evans. “Karrer” refers to Paul Karrer (1889-1971), who was the first to establish the structure of beta-carotene (the chief precursor of vitamin A); Karrer received a share of the 1937 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research on vitamins. No. (4), the paper by Holmes and Leicester, describes a laboratory method of isolating carotene “which would minimize the exposure of the materials to air at all times” (p. 717).
Book Id: 43154Price: $2,500.00