Jaws

By Peter Benchley

First UK edition, first impression: London: André Deutsch, 1974.

Original red cloth, the spine lettered in gilt, the title set between bands of triangular ornament; light pink endpapers. In the original unclipped dust jacket designed by Tom Simmonds, priced £1.95 net, UK only, on the front flap: the open jaws of a shark in black and cream, framing a colour photograph of a bathing beach, with the title in red. The rear flap carries Alex Gotfryd’s photograph of the author.

A fine copy, the boards square, the corners sharp and the gilt bright.

The dust jacket near fine and unclipped, with slight fading to the spine lettering and very mild evidence of wear to the spine head; the panels otherwise clean and bright.

Benchley’s first novel, published in the United States by Doubleday in February 1974 and in London by Deutsch the same year. The jacket records that the film rights had already been “sold for a huge sum to Zanuck Brown”. Steven Spielberg’s film opened in America in June 1975, from a screenplay first drafted by Benchley and rewritten during filming by Carl Gottlieb; it won Academy Awards for film editing, original dramatic score and sound, and was the highest-grossing film of all time until Star Wars two years later.