Jaws, Peter Benchley - First Edition, 1st Printing - 1974

True first edition, first printing of Jaws by Peter Benchley with first state dust jacket in great condition.

Octavo, 311pp. Black cloth, title in silver on spine. Stated “first edition” on copyright page, with “044” in gutter of page 311. Original $6.95 price printed on inside dust jacket dust jacket flap. Published by Doubleday & Company in 1974.

Includes original dust jacket, not price clipped, with approx. 0.5-inch closed tear on bottom rear of dust jacket and minor edge wear on top and bottom near spine and flap folds. Clean interior, with no markings, inscriptions, or creasing. Strong spine and boards, with no bumping or visible wear.

Jaws is a novel by American writer Peter Benchley, published in 1974. It tells the story of a large great white shark that preys upon a small Long Island resort town and the three men who attempt to kill it. The novel grew out of Benchley's interest in shark attacks after he read about the exploits of Frank Mundus, a shark fisherman from Montauk, New York, in 1964. Doubleday commissioned him to write the novel in 1971, a period when Benchley worked as a freelance journalist.