Nöbetçi Eczaneler
A collection of nearly 300 items belonging to Jaws author and ocean conservationist Peter Benchley is being put up for auction, with proceeds from the sales to be donated to ocean conservation organisations.
The Peter Benchley Collection: Jaws, a life of writing, a legacy of stories will go under the hammer at Willow Auction House in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, on 29 October.
Benchley, who died in 2006, wrote the 1974 novel Jaws and co-wrote the screenplay for Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film adaptation.
Following the movie’s success, Benchley became concerned about public perceptions of sharks and devoted much of his later life to shark and ocean conservation.
In recognition of his efforts, funds raised through the auction will be donated to WildAid, an international wildlife conservation organisation, and Beneath the Sea, a non-profit organisation supporting ocean education, diving, exploration and conservation.
Highlights of the auction include original Jaws production photographs and memorabilia, Benchley’s 1975 Jaws one-sheet movie poster, typewriters, books and research materials, awards and personal items, as well as an original Jaws movie t-shirt given to him by Spielberg.
The collection also includes his personal scuba diving equipment and Henderson titanium wetsuit, plus shark teeth, fossils and archaeological artefacts recovered by Benchley and his wife Wendy during their explorations.
Some of the items up for auction include objects connected with Bermuda shipwrecks, including bottle fragments dated to the 18th and 19th centuries and renowned Bermudian shipwreck diver Teddy Tucker’s Bermuda Shipwreck Map.
Before he became a bestselling author, Benchley worked as a speechwriter for US President Lyndon B Johnson, and mementoes from this period, such as White House photographs, presentation pieces, and signed photographs of the president and First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, are also included in the auction.
Other lots include paintings by Benchley’s father, author and artist Nathaniel Benchley, and maritime art pieces such as Christopher Blossom’s Ship Allerton East River New York and Thomas Hoyne’s First and Saucy, each estimated at US$6,000-$8,000.
‘This collection tells a much bigger story than Jaws,’ said Jill Iorio of Willow Auction House. ‘When you go through Peter Benchley’s personal belongings, you begin to see all of the different chapters of his life – the writer, the White House speechwriter, the traveller, the historian, the diver and ultimately the conservationist.
‘There are things from his desk, things he wore, things he collected and even objects he personally recovered while diving. It feels less like an auction and more like walking through the story of his life.’
The auction will take place at Willow Auction House in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, on Thursday, 29 October, with online bidding available.
For more details, the full catalogue of lots available and online bidding details, head to WillowAuctionHouse.com.
The post Peter Benchley’s Jaws memorabilia and dive gear to be auctioned for charity appeared first on DIVE Magazine.
