Unusual find

From: John Foust <jfoust_at_threedee.com>
Date: Mon Jun 15 10:04:06 1998

At 07:33 PM 6/13/98, Joe wrote:
>
> I rarely see this kind of thing, but I do have a book titled "Marching
>Thru Georgia" that was published in the 1800s that has *three* hard covers
>on it and all three are a different style, color and material! Inside the
>book it mentions that the books are available with three different covers
>so I guess this one was a "demo" to show the different cover styles.
> I've never seen or heard of a book
>like it before.

In the late 1800s, books were commonly sold in advance and by
subscription (as in a series by Mark Twain, for example) by
travelling sales people. They carried sample books such as
the one you describe, and offered the customer their choice
of binding.

To keep this on-topic, computer book publishers today will
circulate a dozen or so preliminary copies of a book to reviewers
at magazines for promotional purposes as well as to industry
experts to proof-read. I've got a few of these, they're
typically crudely perfect-bound with color-copy covers.

- John
Received on Mon Jun 15 1998 - 10:04:06 BST