Benchley, Peter. JAWS. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1974. 1st edition, 1st printing. With “First Edition” printed on the copyright page. This book also has the correct blue endpapers and the correct code O44 in the gutter of page 311. This is NOT a book-club book. This is NOT an ex-library book.Buyer beware: There were many later printings of JAWS that were published in this exact hardcover format and also in similar, but slightly different, formats. This is the real deal: the true 1st edition, 1st printing. Be careful: there are several copies of JAWS that are currently being offered for sale on EBAY that are listed as 1st edition, 1st printings that ARE NOT 1st edition, 1st printings. Again, it MUST say “First Edition” on the copyright page, the book must have blue endpapers, and code O44 must be in the gutter of page 311.____________________________________________________EBAY SHIPPING CHANGES: EBAY is now forcing me to buy insurance (if I choose to do so) to send packages out using the EBAY shipping system. Please note this if you are buying a book from me as you will be charged for shipping and insurance. One would assume that the buyer would want to insure this book for its correct value.___________________________________________________SCROLL DOWN THIS PAGE IMMEDIATELY TO SEE THE CONDITION OF THIS BOOK AND THIS DUST JACKET.Peter Benchley was born in 1940 and died in 2006. He graduated from Harvard University. He is most famous for his first book, JAWS (offered here), and for the subsequent famous film of the same name. JAWS was published in 1974 and became a great success, staying on the bestseller list for 44 weeks. Peter Benchley co-wrote the screenplay for the great and famous movie, along with Howard Sackler and John Milius. The film (directed by Steven Spielberg) was released in 1975, starring Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss. “Jaws” became the first film to gross over $100 million in U.S. theaters. From this success, the summer blockbuster was born. The film was followed by three sequels. Peter Benchley was also the author of such famous books as THE DEEP, THE ISLAND, THE GIRL OF THE SEA OF CORTEZ, Q CLEARANCE, and several others.From the dust jacket flap: “ . . . JAWS . . . A young woman makes love on the beach, then takes a midnight swim. As she swims, she is violently struck, chopped in two. The next morning pieces of her body are found at the water’s edge . . . So begins JAWS, the story of a Long Island resort town called Amity that is set upon by a rare and fearsome creature, the great white shark. A superbly exciting novel, JAWS is also a tale of moral dilemma. For the town fathers of Amity decide to cover up the woman’s death: news of a killer shark could ruin the summer business. They forbid police chief Martin Brody to close the beaches. The shark has gone, they say. But the shark remains and kills again, and the life of the town becomes governed by the remorseless, almost supernatural presence offshore . . . “From the rear flap of the dust jacket: “ . . . Peter Benchley is the third generation of writing Benchleys; his father is the novelist Nathaniel Benchley and his grandfather was the humorist Robert Benchley. He was born in 1940 in New York City and grew up there. After graduating from Harvard, cum laude, he served in the Marines, then became a reporter for the Washington Post. Later he worked as an editor of Newsweek, a speechwriter for President Johnson, and a television commentator. His interest in sharks began during summers in Nantucket, on shark-fishing expeditions from that island. He has written about sharks and other topics for many magazines, including The National Geographic, The New Yorker, Life, Holiday, New York, Vogue, and The New York Times Magazine. He lives in Pennington, New Jersey, with his wife, Wendy, and their two small children, Tracy and Clayton . . . “___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I grade books and dust jackets: fine, near fine, very good, good, fair, and poor. I describe all faults. If you sell books on EBAY (or anywhere else), it is de rigueur not to list 1st printings of book club books as 1st editions (unless they ARE the 1st edition, which occurs only occasionally); also, a 1st edition, 7th printing, is not a 1st edition. Ex-library books must be noted as such since generally they are of little value to the collector of 1st editions. Condition is also very important to those collectors. Books and dust jackets must be described in detail. In other words, it is incumbent upon the SELLER to know what is and is not a 1st edition. Mistakes can be made (and corrected), of course, but if you DON'T KNOW, don't try to sell a book as a 1st edition.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________CONDITION:A VERY GOOD to VERY GOOD+ book in an outwardly VERY GOOD to VERY GOOD+ dust jacket. The book is tight and square in its black full-cloth binding with silver lettering on the spine of the book. The book has the correct blue endpapers. The book has no spine lean, which is important, in that 1st editions of JAWS often have a spine lean. There is no writing in the book, no bookplates, and no remainder marks. The dust jacket is the correct 1st state with the publisher's price of $6.95 on the upper part of the front flap. The dust jacket has undergone some slight restoration/reinforcement using archival (no tape) materials that are non-acidic, mainly at the upper and lower edges of the reverse side of the spine panel of the dust jacket. There is a little color touch-up at the very edge of the top and bottom edges of the spine panel of the dust jacket; unobtrusive. There is a bit of wrinkling and smudging at the lower portion of the spine panel of the dust jacket. The word "JAWS" on the spine panel of the dust jacket is bright red-orange, as it originally came from the publisher. Usually the word "JAWS" on JAWS dust jackets are quite faded, sometimes almost to white. That is not the case here.There is a wonderful contemporary photograph of Peter Benchley on the rear panel of the dust jacket.A note on the photos in this listing: some of the photos of the dust jacket were taken while the dust jacket was encased in a protective Brodart dust jacket protector. Any apparent "smudges" or darkening or discolorations or glare is due to the reflections from the dust jacket protector. There are essentially no flaws to the dust jacket except the slight flaws to the dust jacket noted above. I decided not to remove the dust jacket from the dust jacket protector when I took the photos. I can provide photos of the dust jacket without the dust jacket protector on the dust jacket, if necessary. ____________________________________________________EBAY SHIPPING CHANGES: EBAY is now forcing me to buy insurance (if I choose to do so) to send packages out using the EBAY shipping system. Please note this if you are buying a book from me as you will be charged for shipping and insurance. One would assume that the buyer would want to insure this book for its correct value.___________________________________________________This copy of JAWS one of the nicer (in terms of condition) 1st edition copies currently listed for sale on EBAY. It should again be pointed out that there are at least 15 hardcover copies of JAWS that are currently listed for sale on EBAY that are described as 1st editions that are not 1st editions. Again, buyer beware: JAWS 1st editions must say "First Edition" on the copyright page, the gutter code on page 311 has to be O44, and the book must have blue endpapers. This is the real deal: a true and correct 1st edition/1st printing of JAWS. A MUST FOR THE COLLECTOR OF IMPORTANT MODERN HORROR FICTION 1st EDITIONS AND/OR THE COLLECTOR OF IMPORTANT BOOKS-MADE-INTO-FAMOUS FILMS 1st EDITIONS AND/OR THE COLLECTOR OF PETER BENCHLEY 1st EDITIONS!___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Additional photos are available upon request.I am continuing to list some of my best books (especially science fiction, fantasy, and horror 1st editions) on EBAY not so much as auctions (due to the fact that EBAY charges quite a bit to list items for reserve auctions), but more along the lines of listing my “catalogue” of books that I have for sale. I'm not going to “give” these books away, but my opening bids and Buy-It-Now prices are usually a fair amount below market value. Furthermore, however, for certain scarce books in great condition, I do expect to get close to what they’re worth. Stay with me; I always have a number of important, collectible, cornerstone science fiction, fantasy, and horror 1st editions listed. Many thanks! All items are being offered for sale elsewhere; I reserve the right to end this listing early if this item sells elsewhere.__________________________________________________________________________________Note:I own the following two books:Leckie, Anne. ANCILLARY JUSTICE. Subterranean Press, 2014. 1st limited edition. (#2/500).Leckie, Anne. ANCILLARY MERCY. Subterranean Press, 2016. 1st limited edition. (#2/500).I am looking for:Leckie, Anne. ANCILLARY SWORD. Subterranean Press, 2015. 1st limited edition. (#2/500).I would like to round out this set by acquiring the #2/500copy of ANCILLARY SWORD. If anyone has this copyand is willing to sell it on EBAY, I would be highly interestedin obtaining it so that all my copies would have matchingnumbers. Many thanks.__________________________________________________________________________________Contact me if you're looking for a particular title or titles. I have thousands of books for sale that may or may not show up in my EBAY listings.I am happy to set up flexible PAYMENT and/or HOLD PLANS for any book(s) that you bid on and win.
Shipping: $4.00 for USPS Media Mail shipping. $10.00 for USPS Priority Mail shipping. Buyers who wish to have packages sent to addresses outside of the U.S. are required to pay for the postage necessary to send such packages. Please note: if you want something other than USPS Media Mail shipping, you must wait for me to send you an EBAY invoice or if you are a buyer outside of the United States, you must wait for me to send you an EBAY invoice. You must be willing to pay for non-USPS Media Mail shipping charges or for international shipping charges. I reserve the right to negate a purchase if you are unwilling to pay for the correct shipping charges either to an address in the U.S. or if international shipping is required. I am happy to set up flexible payment and layaway plans if these options make it easier for you to participate in bidding and winning. Please e-mail me if you have any questions. See my other auctions on EBAY for excellent science fiction, fantasy, and horror 1st editions (and a few other items). I specialize in science fiction, fantasy, and horror 1st editions: award winners, cornerstone books, and generally recognized important books in the genre(s). I GUARANTEE THE CONDITION OF THIS BOOK; IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, SEND IT BACK!If you prefer payment methods other than PayPal (as I do), I am happy to arrange for a different payment method for you.
Before you buy from others, check out their return policies and their guarantees and compare them to mine. I stand behind all of my items FULLY. Why deal with a seller who won't guarantee their books, doesn't have a return policy, or doesn't correctly describe the edition or condition of their book(s)?OTIUM SINE LITTERIS MORS EST ET HOMINIS VIVI SEPULTURA.
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