Bidspirit auction | 3 Maritime Reference Books from

3 Maritime Reference Books from Peter Benchley’s Personal Library - Three octavo volumes focused on literature and maritime history. The first volume is Selected Plays of William Shakespeare, introduced by James Putnam and published by Fine Editions Press, Cleveland, in 1952. The second work is Great Shipwrecks and Castaways, edited by Charles Neider and published by Harper and Brothers, New York, in 1952. The third volume is a trade paperback edition of The Buccaneers of America by John Esquemeling, published by Dover Publications, New York, in 1967. The Shakespeare volume is quarter-bound in reddish-brown leather with tan cloth boards, decorated with a gilt spine and raised bands. The interior endpapers bear two variations of a black ink ownership stamp reading BENCHLEY. The Neider volume is bound in tan cloth and includes a blue woodcut-style frontispiece depicting a shipwreck. The Esquemeling paperback features pictorial wrappers and contains marginalia. Largest copy: 8” L x 5 3/4” W x 1 1/4” D. From the personal collection of Peter Benchley (American, 1940–2006), acclaimed author of Jaws, accomplished diver, and prominent advocate for ocean and shark conservation.