Bible Design and Binding

The ESV on an Apple iPhone

At the risk of alienating the Luddites in the audience, I've decided to post the answer to a question I often receive, which usually goes something like this: "Mark, with all the cool Bibles reviewed on your site, which one do you actually use the most?" Even though I'm situated in an Aladdin's cave of goatskin, calf, and india paper, the Bible I use most often these days is bound in aluminum and glass. And it's not really a Bible at all. It's a phone. An Apple iPhone, to be precise.

Above: the iPhone "open" to Psalm 1 in the English Standard Version.

If this comes as a surprise, believe me no one is as surprised as I am. When the iPhone came out last summer, I prided myself on not being one of the sheeple who stood in line. (My pride was based on a mere technicality: my father and brother, even greater technophiles than me, stood in line and bought one for me.) After plunging a lot of money into the black hole that was the Pocket PC circa 1999, I had pretty much given up on "convergence," the dream of a single device to rule them all. My judgment was confirmed after I inherited a Motorola SLVR (giving up my perfectly good pre-Sony Ericsson T28) with the idea that it would combine the functions of phone and iPod. It did, but not very well, and I decided the future was still in the, well, future.

Now I'm a believer. The future started last July, but not everyone realizes it yet.

But this isn't about the iPhone. It's about the Bible on the iPhone. At first, I didn't take advantage of the possibilities. I had a bookmark to the ESV Online in my Safari browser, but more often than not I'd forget it was there. Then the ESV Blog posted some (for me) historic news: how to "Add the ESV to your iPhone Home Screen." Specifically, you can create an icon for any of the ESV's many online reading plans and have it display right on the home screen, giving you one-click access to the day's reading. I followed the instructions and that did the trick. Hardly a day goes by now when I don't take advantage of it.

Above: The icon in the lower right-hand corner brings up the Daily Reading Bible selection in a Safari window.

Upcoming Personal Size Reference ESVs

The ESV Blog, in publishing a round-up of Personal Size Reference reviews, hints at a couple of upcoming options:

"Concerning the request for a calfskin edition of this Bible, you shouldn’t expect one this year (2008). However, on Amazon you can find a couple of otherwise-unannounced Personal Size Reference Bibles that are coming out this summer if you do some digging."

So I did some digging and came up with two new TruTone covers: the "Navy/Khaki/Pearl, Horizontal Design" and the "Forest/Tan, Trail Design." They both look tastefully restrained in comparison to a lot of youth-oriented Bibles. Looks like June 30 is the release date, but you can pre-order by following the links. If I missed any, let me know!

Apparently I also have the distinction of having authored "the über-review, with 3,500 words and twenty-one pictures." If you haven't seen it already, be sure to check it out: Personal Size Reference ESV.

First Looks: Four from Allan's, Four from Cambridge

My wife Laurie is the first one to tell you, I'm no good at keeping secrets. It takes time to work up a review and do the photography. If I was patient and just a little bit cunning, I wouldn't blab about what's on the horizon -- but I can't help it. Here are some preliminary shots of eight editions that will be reviewed here in the coming weeks:

And if you're wondering exactly which ones those are, here they are in boxes:

So that's four Allan's Bibles soon to be reviewed. And there's more. We also have four from Cambridge, too!

Here they are all boxed up:

Needless to say, it's going to take some time to live with these a while, take the necessary photos, and formulate my reactions. But in the meantime I just wanted you to know what's in store. Oh, wait -- did I say four from Cambridge? Make that five. You'll have to sit tight to find out what the fifth one is. I have to preserve some sense of mystery, after all.

Writing and Highlighting in Your Bible

Do you write in your Bible? For me, it depends. I tend to leave most of them alone, saving the notes and highlighting for editions designed for it: wide margins. Here's a photo of my Cambridge KJV wide margin opened to Ephesians 1. The notes are for a class I taught on the text.

Over at The Foolish Galatian, Matt Blair has gone crazy with his Zebra highlighter, marking up his new Personal Size Reference ESV. As I mentioned yesterday, I've been reading mine daily and really loving it -- but I haven't worked up the nerve yet to write in it (and probably won't). Now I can experience it vicariously through Matt (and so can you).

Matt also links to an excellent post by Jesus Saenz on what kind of pen to use when marking your Bible (a Pigma Micron). In the past, I've used regular ballpoints, which don't seem to bleed through as much as my usual rollerballs. If I ever work up the nerve to mark up my Personal Size Reference ESV, I will now know the best tools for the job.

Welcome, New Readers!

Traffic doubled last week during my frenzy of reviewing, so I want to welcome new readers and let everyone know that there's more good stuff on the way. In the meantime, a couple of photos:

Above: The Personal Size Reference ESV with Black TruTone cover.

I've been using the Personal Size Reference ESV for daily reading since it arrived, and it just gets better and better. The TruTone feels great in the hand, and this form factor is perfect for reading. I'm getting used to the ration of type-size to column width. I'd prefer the type to be larger, but this is perfectly usable and I can appreciate the trade-offs involved in achieving a compact edition like this.

Above: Oxford's combined NRSV and Book of Common Prayer.

I've also been experimenting with a new camera lens, a 50 mm prime that I have to manual focus. The image above isn't tack-sharp, but I'm getting the hang of it. You'll be seeing more of the results in future reviews.

Realistic Expectations

Imagine the scene: A group of readers from the Bible Design and Binding Blog visit the Holy Land on a retreat, and while trekking through the countryside stumble into an ancient cave full of undisturbed clay pots. Inside, they find perfectly preserved first-century manuscripts of the Old and New Testament. What sort of conversation might ensue?

Reader 1: "This paper isn't very good."

Reader 2: "You're right. I can see words from the other side of the parchment bleeding through. How am I supposed to read this?"

Reader 1: (balancing a scroll in his hand) "It's pretty stiff, isn't it?"

Reader 2: "Here, let's fold the sides over like Bertrand does in the review pictures."

[Parchment disintegrates]

Reader 2: "Wow, I'm not impressed with that."

Reader 1: "No kidding. These scrolls are, like, priceless -- and at that price point I expect quality materials and workmanship. What is that? Bonded parchment? Feels like cardboard to me."

Reader 2: (holding a manuscript fragment to his eye) "I could do without this font, too. It's not exactly readable...."

Reader 1: "At least it's not a red letter edition."

Reader 2: "Indeed."

You get the idea. I'm picking on readers, but let's face it: I'm the king of high expectations. I can imagine the frustration of a Bible designer trying to balance costs and the marketing department's notions of what people want, tuning in here only to find his hard work being compared unfavorably to the Platonic ideal of a Bible. And of course there are the people who stumble upon this site every day, perfectly content with their well-worn bonded leather editions, who if anything consider the pages falling out a mark of distinction, wondering why anyone would major so much on the minors the way we do here.

To all those who wonder, I just want to acknowledge that, yes, I realize my expectations aren't always realistic. I realize, too, that there's something strange about writing so much about a largely unattainable ideal. What keeps me going, though, is the belief that it isn't unattainable -- that, if people only wanted it more, it could be easily achieved.

R. L. Allan's Cross Reference with Concordance (NIV)

Where Bibles are concerned, my tastes are pretty simple. I prefer small to large, thick to thin, single to double, and stitches to glue. I like my fonts traditional and readable, would rather have three ribbons than one, and never saw a problem that couldn't be solved by the liberal application of goatskin. So when an edition comes along that violates just about all of my principles, and I still find myself liking it -- even loving it -- then it's worth taking a moment to ask myself why.

The Bible in question is the Cross Reference NIV with Concordance from R. L. Allan's. And if I had to sum up the appeal in just two words, they'd be: brown and grain.

Above: The Allan's Cross Reference NIV with Concordance bound in brown calfskin (*NIVC2BR), semi yapp style, red under gold page edges, with concordance and 16 pp maps. £70

Yes, this edition is available in black highland goatskin for £20 extra, and in mid-grain goatskin for the same price. But there is something jaw-dropping about the grainy brown calfskin cover on mine. No, it isn't as liquidly limp as the goatskin would be, but it's flexible enough and feels great in the hand. The real delight, though, is the appearance. The brown is captivating. Looking closely, the raised grain is dark and the fissures in between are lighter, so there's a real complexity and depth to the color. It's one of those love-it-or-hate-it effects, and I love it.

R. L. Allan's TNIV

It's hard to find a decent copy of Today's New International Version. When I received my preview edition of the New Testament a few years ago, I was duly impressed. It featured an attractive single-column setting. It employed a classic, readable font. The preview copy was printed on cheap paper and had a glued spine -- but then it was free, so what you do expect? The same format with better quality materials would have been superb. Sadly, it was not to be.

Instead, most editions of the TNIV have been targeted at the youth market, and they've adopted an eccentric typeface that doesn't bother some people but rubs me the wrong way. Everybody who has a "favorite" translation inevitably complains that it doesn't get enough market support from the publisher, but in this case I think TNIV readers have a point. There aren't any "nice" editions available. (The recently released TNIV Reference Bible is a step in the right direction, but it's still only offered in a bonded leather binding -- and that font is back again.)

Finally, though, there is an edition of the TNIV I can recommend wholeheartedly -- and not surprisingly it comes from R. L. Allan's. The Allan's TNIV is a 4.5 x 6.5 inch hardback, about .875 inches thick, featuring a small print, double-column text. The cover is available in four styles: black highland goatskin, imperial purple highland goatskin, cardinal red goatskin, and British tan calfskin. These sell for £50. There's also a French morocco edition for £40. A tabbed closure keeps the silk-lined cover secure. According to the description at Bibles-Direct.com, these editions have two ribbon markers; mine only came with one.

I'm in the Cambridge Catalogue

This is too much fun not to share:

The 2008 Cambridge UK Bible Catalogue features a nice big quote from my review of the NASB Pitt Minion wide-margin edition. Considering how much time I've spent fawning over Cambridge catalogues, it's a little surreal to see my name in there. (Not melting clocks surreal; just mildly euphoric surreal.)

Personal Size Reference Edition (ESV)

My reviews don’t often come with a preface, but in this case I think it’s necessary. The Personal Reference ESV needs to be judged in a particular context. There are only a handful of single-column text settings on the market, and I’m at a loss to think of any other single-column reference versions. I suspect that, in spite of the success of The Message, publishers still view the format as risky. They might sympathize with the rationale behind giving the Bible an updated, more readable format, but that doesn’t allay fears that the market isn’t ready for it.

Above: The Personal Reference ESV with black TruTone cover.

In our little slice of the market, though, the change is long overdue. I doubt any of us think that a single-column, paragraphed setting is a panacea, or that the traditional double-column settings should disappear, but there seems to be a consensus that if the Bible is meant to be read, it should be formatted for reading rather than reference. It should look more like a novel, in other words, something meant to be read cover-to-cover and less like a dictionary, where you just look things up.