Jaws by Peter Benchley - Roman Numeral Edition

First published in 1974, Jaws by Peter Benchley is a riveting novel of suspense and horror that terrified millions of readers and inspired an iconic film franchise.

When a great white shark preys upon the small seaside resort town of Amity, New York, police chief Martin Brody is one of the few residents taking the threat seriously. Nearly everyone in Amity wants to downplay the shark’s presence to not scare away the tourists. But when the body count starts to rise, Brody realizes he must find a way to kill it, even if means putting his own life on the line.

When Peter Benchley wrote Jaws in the early 1970s, he meticulously researched all available data about shark behavior. Over the ensuing decades, Benchley was actively engaged with scientists and filmmakers on expeditions around the world as they expanded their knowledge of sharks.

During this time, there was an unprecedented upswing in the number of sharks killed to make shark-fin soup, and Benchley worked with governments and nonprofits to sound the alarm for shark conservation. He encouraged each new generation of Jaws fans to enjoy his riveting tale and to channel their excitement into support and protection of these magnificent, prehistoric apex predators.

This edition of Jaws contains bonus content from Peter Benchley’s archives, including the original typed title page, a brainstorming list of possible titles, a letter from Benchley to producer David Brown with honest feedback on the movie adaptation, and excerpts from Benchley’s book Shark Trouble highlighting his firsthand account of writing Jaws, selling it to Universal Studios, and working with Steven Spielberg. Also included is a reproduction and sketches of the iconic painting by Roger Kastel used on the original paperback cover and film poster.

Since its original publication, Jaws has spawned a movie franchise, two video games, a Universal Studios theme park attraction, and two musicals.

The signed limited edition of Jaws by Peter Benchley is presented in four states: Roman Numeral, Lettered, Numbered and Artist editions.

ROMAN NUMERA EDITION

• Oversized 7” x 10” trim.
• Limited to 10 copies.
• 296 Pages.
• Full leather binding with a hand dyed airbrush gradient overdyed with craquelure resist technique.
  
• Title is hand tooled with genuine platinum leaf.
• Endpapers are leather jointed with a hand painted flyleaf, sprinkled with palladium leaf sunago and edge to edge leather doublures, which are dyed to match the covering leather.
• Endbands are hand-sewn with Italian silk.
• Edges are decorated with an airbrushed gradient of acrylic ink, sprinkled with silver leaf sunago.
• New exclusive introduction by Wendy Benchley.
• Six full color illustrations by John Anthony Di Giovanni.
• Reproduction and sketches of the iconic painting by Roger Kastel, used on the original paperback cover and film poster.
• Signed by Wendy Benchley, John Anthony Di Giovanni and Roger Kastel.
• Bonus content from Peter Benchley’s archives includes: the original typed title page, a brainstorming list of possible titles, a letter from Benchley to producer David Brown with honest feedback on the movie adaptation, and excerpts from Benchley’s book Shark Trouble highlighting his firsthand account of writing Jaws, selling it to Universal Studios, and working with Steven Spielberg.
• Printed offset on moldmade Arches Text.
• Sewn and bound entirely by hand by master bookbinder, Gillian Stewart in Glasgow’s East End.
• Clamshell enclosure is full leather with cloth trays, decorated with hand painted gradient and pigment foil tooling and lined in velvet. The spine label is inlaid leather.
• Genuine Little Critterz® hand-painted ceramic Great White Shark with all pre-orders.
• Premium Pack with all pre-orders.

Published editions may differ slightly from mockups and prototype designs.
Artwork © 2021 by John Anthony Di Giovanni.
Photography by Yegor Malinovskii