Rebinding is a hot topic in our little community, so I've asked a number of readers to share the results they've had. First up is Matt Morales, who recently had an ESV Wide Margin re-sized and bound in brown goatskin by Paul Sawyer. I haven't seen this one in person, but based on the photographs Matt sent for this feature, it appears to be superb.
Matt specified a cover in brown Russel's Nigerian goatskin, a hand-finished product with a natural soft grain similar to that found on R. L. Allan's editions. The cover is lined in burgundy silk, and the page edges have been colored a light brown with a "gloss" on top, which Matt says turned out quite nice. Matt sourced the ribbon himself and provided it to Paul Sawyer (and he's generously offered to help other readers with ribbon, as well). As you can see from the photos, the spine has raised bands and antique gold imprinting.
The original wide-margin was resized slightly from 6x9 to 5.5x8.5, leaving a one inch margin. This removed the factory gilt edges, and also brought the size in line with an Allan's ESV. Matt measured the thickness at 1.3 inches, too. "In all I was looking for a wide margin with the feel of a hand size Allans," Matt says, "and it is pretty close."
While the margin-hungry among us are no doubt having palpitations, from the photo I'd say the results are still quite usable. The thing I wondered about was how a silk lining would compare with leather. 
It certainly looks nice, but is it as supple?
"I prefer the extra suppleness of the leather-lined to the silk liners," Matt reports. But: "The feel is great with the flexibility improving daily." The photo above testifies to that fact!
Whenever I talk with readers about rebinding projects, I'm always intrigued by the choice of colors and material. In this case, the brown goatskin looks incredible, and I think Matt has chosen an excellent ribbon to complement it. The brown page edges are quite unorthodox, and the photos don't seem to capture the full effect (which is understandable). It never would have occurred to me to cut a wide-margin down to size; now I'm intrigued.
Matt estimates the total cost of the rebinding at $200. Specifying this particular goatskin drove it up by $50. Rebinding is definitely a pricey alternative, especially if you start with a genuine leather edition in the first place. As you can see, though, you end up with a result you couldn't otherwise obtain -- and a Bible that will last. What impressed me most was the turnaround time on this project, which was just one week.
Now that Matt has gotten the rebinding bug, I asked whether he has any future projects in mind. Not surprisingly, he does. If the new Personal Reference ESV turns out nice, he's thinking of having one rebound, this time by Mechling. And he liked the way the cut-down wide-margin turned out so much that he's contemplating another of those.
Thanks, Matt, for sharing your project with the rest of us. And I'd like to offer an invitation to those of you with similar rebinding projects in mind to get in touch with me about a feature on the Bible Design and Binding Blog.
I originally wanted red under gold (similiar affect of the Allan Tan ESV), but Paul Sawyer's shoulder had been giving him trouble so he was unable to do the gold gilding, and mentioned he liked the color brown over red on the page edges (since everything else was brown already). It is unorthodox but unique to a degree and I wager will not wear off as quickly as the factory gilding tends to do. The page edges give it a Journaling bible feel rather than an Allans or cambridge feel that it could have easily if gilding was there.
Paul is quick. He did the bible in a day and sent it back (total of a weeks time).
On a depressing note: Upon receiving the bible I set it down on a counter, yet unknown to me there was a drop of spilled Nail polish remover which turned a 2 inch section of the cover black. As a warning natural hand finished - vegetable tanned skins are more vulnerable. It was originally a gift but now may stay in my possession.
Posted by: matt | December 21, 2007 at 10:39 AM
Matt, did the original Bible have a glued spine or one that was Smythe sewn? As far I know, the only ESV Bibles from Crossway to have a sewn binding are the premium calfskin editions. Which leads me to ask wether or not the signatures on your re-bound Bible are glued or sewn? I had my copy of The Reformation Study Bible rebound in brown goatskin as well, but that Bible already had a sewn binding.
Posted by: Jesus Saenz | December 21, 2007 at 11:23 AM
Originally the Bible had a glued binding. It was sewn upon rebinding. BTW your brown Reformation study bible looked great...how do you like it?
Posted by: matt | December 21, 2007 at 11:57 AM
I had a TNIV XL done by leatherbibles.com and I am very happy with the outcome!
Posted by: Jay Davis | December 21, 2007 at 12:04 PM
Jay - Curious what some of the specs were on the bible you had done. I contacted leatherbibles.com in past about having an ESV rebound, but they said the earliest turnaround time was 3 months so I declined.
Posted by: matt | December 21, 2007 at 12:27 PM
I bought the RSB to replace my Life Application Study Bible. I didn't want a study Bible that was as big the LASB and I also wanted a new translation, I had been using the NKJV for over 10 years.
The re-binding was great. The brown goatskin was recommended by Eric at Leonard's Book Restoration and I was fortunate to have taken his advise as I really like the color. It has a stiff paper board under the leather, as it was going to be used for home study use only and I didn't need a limp cover. The Bible looks great and feels great, lays flat even in Genesis or Revelation and has three ribbon bookmarks. I like it, not a little.
If the Personal Reference ESV is nice enough, and if Crossway doesn't ever plan to make it in calfskin then I would consider sending one to Mechlings, as far as I know they are the only re-binder to re-bind using leather liners. Maybe the fine folks at R. L. Allan would consider doing a run of the Personal Reference to add to their ESV lineup!
Matt, do you know if Paul Sawyer can do a leather lined Bible?
Posted by: Jesus Saenz | December 21, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Jesus - I called paul. he was hesitant but said he would do it. I would just ask him to use sheepskin leather like mechling uses for the lining.
Posted by: matt | December 21, 2007 at 02:15 PM
What about a Bible like the MacArthur Study Bible with a thumb-index. Just curious, can something like that be rebound...and with some of the upgraded features mentioned above??
Posted by: PDS | December 22, 2007 at 08:56 AM
Looking through Amazon today and found place holders for Pitt-Minion ESVs (this summer) and wide margin ESVs (this fall) by Cambridge. Also, just had a Cambridge NIV wide-margin rebound in chocolate brown goatskin by Mechling. Materials are superb and feel is wonderful. But I am trying to send the Bible back as it looks like the spine is too narrow resulting in the outside edges of the pages being misaligned. The spine is good and stiff; just too narrow for the amount of pages. I asked for it to be resewn but am having a hard time seeing if they did they that. Once group of pages came already separating from adjoining pages. However, I can tell once that is remedied I will be extremely happy with the improvement over the original calfskin.
Posted by: Rod Summers | December 27, 2007 at 06:10 AM
PDS - I do not believe that binders will cut the book block and then add thumb-index. They could cut the thumb indexed part off revealing normal page edges. Although I doesnt hurt to ask, but I doubt that something can be done to the page edges without removing or cutting off the thumb-index. Yet all other binding can be done I imagine.
Rod - I am contemplating sending a bible to be done in Chocolate goatskin. How is the color on the cover...is it more of a black chocolate or medium brown? I am deciding between the Tan and Chocolate. overall sounds great, but it is a shame that the spine turned out the way it did.
Posted by: matt | December 27, 2007 at 09:41 AM
Matt, did they give you the option to round the edges of the pages like normal Bibles? Or was that option done away with once the resizing of margins took over or was it a personal choice? You said that they stitched a glued book block - is that correct? It looks fantastic mate! Someone [...like RL Allan & Sons - hint hint] could easily make a unique little busisness out of this concept. Most of us would buy wouldn't we?
Posted by: Stuart | December 29, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Stuart - The rounded pages was overlooked and I slapped my self when I realized I had forgotten. Although it looks great it is a slight nuisance with the straight edges. It is completely possible to have them rounded.
the binding is what Paul called double sewn for strength. so yes it is sewn and glued.
After comparing the ESV rebound wide margin with another standard ESV wide margin, the size is not that noticeable. Crossway's wide margin is already pretty compact and slim for a wide margin (comparable to most reference bibles).
Posted by: matt | December 29, 2007 at 12:56 PM
Matt - would love to talk to you about your Bible specs & the process you went through etc - can I give you my email & throw some questions back at you?
Posted by: Stuart | December 30, 2007 at 11:21 AM
Matt-Your rebound looks quite stunning. I have been trying to determine who would be a good binder, the type of leather preferred for this application etc., so it was a real blessing to stumble across this blog Mark. Thanks for your effort. What kind of council can you offer me on the ribbons Matt. I really like the color of the ones that you chose to use. Thanks to all for the discussion.
Posted by: Steve | December 30, 2007 at 01:39 PM
Stuart - my email is mattdmorales@gmail.com.
Steve - The leather is from Russell's in England and is a hand finished goatskin, unless you want to spend a lot of money I am sure that a less expensive goatskin cover would be bout as nice.. I get my ribbon from The Ribbonerie in San francisco. You can order through them. If you wanted the exact color I could mail you a couple feet but I have to a week or so to get more.
I have to be honest that I really like the customization and personal service that Paul Sawyer gives, although I believe leather lining is the way to go bar none!!! That is why the mechling bibles I have had redone are still my favorite eventhough they do not look as luxurious. If someone wanted to just get a bible rebound and not mess with cutting the bible to a different size than I would go with Mechling because their prices are transparent and I have had consistant quality with their work. THey can also upgrade their standard (though it is very nice) goatskin to an even nicer goatskin for about $50 dollars.
Posted by: matt | December 30, 2007 at 10:41 PM
Matt- sorry for replying so late. The cover is more of a chocolate brown. I'm really happy with the cover. Still haven't heard back from Mechling. Wonder if they took a holiday break??
Posted by: Rod | December 31, 2007 at 09:35 AM
Rod - you said that your Bible from Mechling was more of a "chocolate brown" - so how does it compare to the pics here of Matt's Bible (does it look the same / darker / lighter...)? I'm looking at doing a similar project & really like the colour of Matt's Brown Goatskin but want to know what Mechlings "chocolate brown" looks like in real life...
Posted by: Stuart | January 01, 2008 at 07:27 AM
Stuart- Close to the same color. It didn't look as "distressed" if you know what I mean. Finally was contacted by Al Mechling who said he will fix the Bible even if he has to totally do it over.
Posted by: Rod | January 04, 2008 at 06:41 AM
Rod - any chance of sending through a few pics of it (smazz@optusnet.com.au)?
Posted by: Stuart | January 04, 2008 at 01:24 PM
I have the ESV Single Column Reference Calfskin. I don’t know what the process is for doing red under gold, but do you know of anyone that could do the red? I would love to add that feature, but know nothing about it.
Posted by: PDS | January 10, 2008 at 07:02 PM
To add red edges the edges must be cut slightly for a cleaner surface and then the red added. To be honest I would stick with the factory spray on gold unless you really want the red. I believe that a binder would have to remove the binding and then add it, which bumps up the price to a complete rebinding. It is all a matter of price which the rebind with Paul sawyer would be atleast a $100.
Red under gold can be done with Mcspadden (they charge an additional $100 on top of the rebinding fee), and from what I hear the quality is excellent and long lasting though not cheap.
Posted by: matt | January 10, 2008 at 09:37 PM
Stuart- sorry for the late reply. The Bible is back at Mechling. Al Mechling offered to completely rebind and resew the Bible. As soon as I get it back I'll be glad to send some pictures.
Posted by: Rod | January 11, 2008 at 03:37 AM
Thanks Matt. I was hoping the process might be easier!
Posted by: PDS | January 11, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Rod - Thanks mate, appreciated & look forward to seeing it. I've almost finished planning out my first project & colour is a major sticking point!
Posted by: Stuart | January 11, 2008 at 04:22 PM
I have been thinking about having a Bible rebound for at least the last six months. I have a Ryrie study Bible (Authorized Version) and love the notes and study helps that it contains. However, the "genuine leather" edition that I bought is bound in thin, stiff leather that to me has a very plastic feel to it. I have said more than once that it is bound in rat-hide. As someone who is used to Cambridge Bibles, this just doesn't work.
After seeing the Bible that Matt had rebound by Paul Sawyer, I said "thats it!" It has the old fashoned look that I am after. I do no want this Bible to look like something that just came off the shelf at the local Chistian book shop. Matt was kind enough to respond to my questions via e-mail and even offered to take my phone call (which I have not yet made due to time zone and work issues).
I e-mailed Paul Sawyer with a list of things I wanted in this rebinding. I asked for Russell's Nigerian goatskin in a natural finish, three ribbon markers, specific typeface and inscriptions on the spine, a double sewn binding, rased bands on the spine in a specific style and the marbeled silk endpapers (although not very popular here, I love the look). Paul said he could do everything I wanted, so I shipped my Bible off to him today.
Were it not for this wonderful site and the kindness of Matt, I am not sure I would have taken this step, at least not yet. I will be sure to post my results here when I get this Bible back.
Posted by: Michael Swoveland | January 29, 2008 at 06:31 PM
Sounds very interesting, can't wait to see some images of the results. I agree that this brown Nigerian goatskin looks absolutely incredible. I'm not sure that I've seen one that looks better than this.
Posted by: Nathan | January 29, 2008 at 07:28 PM
I spoke with Paul Sawyer Saturday, he said he had just finished rebinding my Bible and that he would be mailing it out Monday by Priorty Mail, so I should haved it back Wednesday or Thursday. This guy is fast! I understand some bookbinders will take 1-2 months to get your Bible back to you.
As a side note, Paul is quite a talker. He seems to really love his art and to enjoy sharing what he knows about leathers and binding. As part of his training he spent six months working as a tanner, so he knows a lot about leather. I can't wait to see what he has done with my Bible!
Posted by: Michael Swoveland | February 03, 2008 at 01:47 PM
michael - congratulations. hope it turns out great for you.
what color did you choose for the cover/ribbons?
Posted by: matt | February 03, 2008 at 08:40 PM
Thank you Matt. I just got it back today and I am very pleased with the results. I went with a natural brown leather which Paul added a light patina to and gold ribbons.
Posted by: Michael Swoveland | February 08, 2008 at 08:10 PM
I would love to see some images of it. Maybe you can write up a short review and email half a dozen pics of it to Mark?
Posted by: Nathan | February 08, 2008 at 08:45 PM
Michael -- that's great. I look forward to seeing how that turns out so hopefully you'll get a chance to share...and next time, you'll go for the MacArthur Study Bible (smile).
Posted by: PDS | February 09, 2008 at 05:05 AM
Nathan, I did that last night, but I am not a very good photographer.
PDS, I am already feeling the urge to get something else rebound!
Posted by: Michael Swoveland | February 09, 2008 at 05:56 AM
Michael -- that's cool. I look forward to seeing how it turns out. I'm a fan of MacArthur and had considered doing so with one of his study Bibles.
Question -- when rebinding a study Bible, should I just go buy the cheapest one since the only difference is on the cover (which will be tossed aside anyhow)?
Also, does anyone know if someone can take the Cambridge NASB Pitt Minion ribbon and replace it? It's horrible -- red, short, and cheap.
Posted by: PDS | February 09, 2008 at 09:08 AM
PDS, Don't repeat my mistake, I bought the most expensive one on the shelf! I would get a cheap one and make sure you ask the binder for a sewn spine. My Bible came with one cheap black ribbon, which was replaced by three gold ones, so yes, you can do away with the old cheap ribbon.
Posted by: Michael Swoveland | February 09, 2008 at 09:42 AM
Stuart- if you can send me an email address I'll be glad to forward you some pictures of the Mechling rebind on Chocolate Brown. Mine is rodsummers@comcast.net.
Posted by: Rod | April 05, 2008 at 04:00 AM
I just had to add my 2 cents... I discovered Paul Sawyer several years back - I created a very special book from scratch for our pastors. I sent to Paul typed pages, with velum sheets over each chapter... I chose a very special parchment leather that was reminiscent of old parchments used in the times of the early church. I also had a box made. Paul did the most amazing job I have ever seen. This type of a project, at the time was about $1,500 - which was well over a thousand dollars less than other quotes I received. His customer service is 2nd to none - and his skill level...well lets just say that you don't find someone like him every day. He has also bound several custom bibles for me and some friends and his work is exquisite. I cannot say enough good about this man's work, and his integrity...at least in all of his dealings with me and my friends. God only leads me to the best ;)
Posted by: TammyB | August 22, 2008 at 05:03 PM
Just purchased a ESV Classic Reference Genuine Leather and discovered it was smyth sewn as the seller claimed. (Did not beleive him at first) Bible was printed in China and rumor has it that all ESVs from China and Korea are smyth sewn.
Any truth to that rumor?
Posted by: Joseph DeMarco | August 26, 2008 at 10:40 AM
@ Joseph - Zondervan confirmed (& sent me a product list complete with where each Bible was printed) that all their Bibles printed outside the USA have sewn bindings so it's probably true for other publishers too?? Why not email them?
Posted by: Stuart | August 26, 2008 at 02:17 PM