HARVARD UNIVERSITY

THE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES

         16 DIVINITY AVENUE

   CAMBRIDGE 38. M ASSACH USETTS

Dr. Arthur Kornberg
Depa; tment of Microbiology
Washington Univ. School of Medicine
St. Louis 10, Missouri

December 27, 1957

Dear Arthur:

I am returning your manuscripts under separate cover, having;

read them with the deepest interest, There is no doubt in my mind of
the profound iqortance of the work you report.  It is certainly an ex-
citing experience to read a detailed report of this degree of signifi-
cance after having had to review a good many rather medi0cl.e papers for
the JBC durinf: the last year.
and of course it opens up immense vistas for future work.  I knew the
general outlines from your lectures in Boston last year,  but I find it
even more impressive on examining the full details.

I certainly think that this is outstanding,

As to the comments offered by the editor who criticized your

manuscript (who obviously consulted two or three referees also), there
are many of them that I do not feel qualified to judge. However, it is
my om personal conviction that these coments are offered quite without
malice, and simply in the belief that every paper submitted to the JBC
deserves a verj thorough going over.
Vickery about this. He had not seen the correspondence or had arything
to do with handling the manuscript or correspondence himself,  but when
he looked it up he expressed the opinion that thisletter was no tougher
than many which they send out every year.  He also expressed the opinion
that the editor who prepared the letter would have said the same things
to you, even more bluntly, if he had been discussing the matter with pu
in personal conversation. Personally, however, I must say that I never
would have passed the passage referring to ~lbanalities". This is not only
rude but is also not, in the least a fair ' of the passages, in my
opinion.  In gcneral I think your reply to your critic is quite reasonable
in tone.  I hesitate to express too positive a view abut these matters,
since I have no official responsibilitjr whatever asto the way in which
these manuscripts are handled. I hope, however, tnat the differences of
opinion about them can be resolved rapidly, since this is certainly very
im?ortant work and it ought to be made available to the scientific world
without undue delay.  I am very glad indeed to have had a chance to resd
it before publication.

I had a chance to talk with Dr.

Dr. Arthur Kornberg

-2-

December 27, 1957

I am keeping the copy of the correspondence by the editors

and yourself, in case the New Haven office raises any questions with
me about this.  In any case I feel very strongly,as the future editor
of the JBCJthat I sho:dd be extremely disappointed if work of this sort
were not to appear in the Journal but were to be sent somewhere else.

With all good wishes for the new year,

Yours sincerely,

Y John T. Edsall