galley proof

American  

noun

Printing.

1. a proof, originally one set from type in a galley, taken before the material has been made up into pages and usually printed as a single column of type with wide margins for marking corrections.

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galley proof British  

noun

1. Often shortened to: galley.  a printer's proof, esp one taken on a long strip of paper from type in a galley, used to make corrections before the matter has been split into pages

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Etymology

Origin of galley proof

First recorded in 1885–90

Example Sentences

If journalism is the first draft of history, documentary filmmaking is often an overdue, dog-eared galley proof with no cover art.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025

Cuarón received the 2015 novel that the series is based on from author Renée Knight about a decade ago as a galley proof.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 11, 2024

For the next seven years or so, all the way to galley proof in 1984, McCarthy whittled Blood Meridian down into the lean nightmare we now know.

From Slate • Oct. 6, 2012

At length their leader arose, produced sheets of galley proof and read from midnight until nearly dawn.

From Time Magazine Archive

But all the work was hers ... it went through three or four other hands besides H. P. B.'s in galley proof, as well as in revise.

From H. P. Blavatsky A Great Betrayal by Cleather, Alice Leighton