trial proof

He also noted that Oberlin had sought to prevent his cancer diagnosis from being raised at trial — proof at a minimum that the college’s lawyers were mindful of the diagnosis and, in at least one matter, tailored their legal strategies accordingly.

Bonhams employee George Foren poses for photographs with a rare trial proof copy of Andy Warhol's 1985 portrait of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, at the auction house's central London offices.

Approof, ap-prōōf′, n. trial, proof: sanction, approbation.

Nearly all the plates are proofs, some in three or four states from the trial proof to the finished plate, and in addition many prints retouched by Stothard with his autograph instructions on the margin.

A trial proof of the key block, center sheet, is in the Rosenwald Collection, National Gallery of Art.