Definition of term:: Publisher's dummy
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Sample of a book usually bound with the title page and a few pages of text, and occasionally a representative illustration, with the rest of the pages blank, created in order to demonstrate what the finished book would look like. These were made, usually in very small numbers, for a number of purposes - for the publisher to see what the binding would look like, as samples for traveling book sellers or publisher's representatives who would have something tangible to show to customers or bookstore owners, etc. These are usually very uncommon, but not always very desirable, unless the book in question itself is collected.
Source: What bookdealers really mean. A dictionary by Tom Congalton and Dan Gregory (Between the Covers), with additions from other sources