JAWS by Peter Benchley, Doubleday edition
First edition, first printing, published by Doubleday & Company, Inc., New York, 1974.
The bold sans serif caps used for the title are very likely lettering, featuring a ‘W’ made of an overlapping double ‘V’ which may evoke shark teeth (albeit blunt ones). The rest of the jacket is set in tight-not-touching ITC Souvenir Light, a staple in 1970s typography. The typeface used on the spine of the cover as well as on the title page is Greco negro, the bold weight of a family originally issued by the Spanish Gans foundry in the mid 1920s. For digital options, see Bristol by FontHaus (caps only) or Bitstream’s Melina (less authentic). The interior is in W.A. Dwiggins’ Caledonia.
See also Quentin’s contribution about the first UK edition by Andre Deutsch.
3 Comments on “JAWS by Peter Benchley, Doubleday edition”
Though the relationship isn’t as direct, it seems also worth mentioning a vague similarity between the title lettering for the book (and subsequent film) and Gill Kayo.
Cool to see another edition of that book!
Zachary Petit wrote an article about the making of Jaws’ iconic book covers for Print, and credits Paul Bacon for the jacket design of the first edition.
See also the cover of Bantam’s paperback edition.