A Glimpse of the ESV Study Bible (Sort Of)

If you attended the Together for the Gospel conference last week, you might have gotten a glimpse of the ESV Study Bible mock-up displayed at the Crossway booth. Scott Kay did. What's more, he snapped some photos so the rest of us could have a look! Scott writes:

The lighting was not great, so I have tried to adjust them to improve the shots. They took the book of John and bound it in the mock-up over and over until they achieved the same thickness of the final product.

A few things to note:

This is a single column paragraphed edition. In fact, here are some interesting tidbits from the brochure (I've included a shot of this info in the brochure):

Pages and size: pages - 2752; trim size - 6 1/2 x 9 1/4 (and they don't publish this, but it's really thick. I'm guessing nearly 2")

Paper - high-opacity, high-quality French Bible Paper (It does appear to be quite nice about only allowing minimal bleed-through, as the paper does indeed seem quite nice.)

Typesetting - 9 point single column paragraphed; 7.25 point double-column for notes. Full color throughout for maps, charts, etc. (see photos) (although it exceeds 12 words per line, like the PR Edition)

Binding: All editions are Smyth sewn. Available in hardcover, TruTone, Bonded Leather, Genuine Leather, and Premium Calfskin

Available Oct. 15,2008

I asked about the creeds and confessions, and there is no plan to include them. Yet, this seems poised to compete directly with the MacArthur Study Bible and even the Reformation SB. It seems like it will be quite conservative evangelical, and even reformed in leanings (at least) (based on the listing of scholars who have contributed notes for each book of the Bible - it reads like a who's who of conservative scholars). In addition to 25,000+ notes there are over 50 articles, 200 full color maps, over 200 charts, 80,000 cross references, over 40 full color illustrations (like of the temple, etc.)...but who's counting?

Now the photos:

That last one, of course, is a comparison between the ESV Study Bible mock-up and the Personal Size Reference ESV. Remember, these are just photos of a mock-up, so they're not representative of the final product. Still, it's interesting to see what the upcoming hardback will look like.

Comments

[Iyov]

Based on those photos, I hardly think that is high-opacity paper. If I look at the original Flickr shot, I can quite clearly read the backside of the page through a mirror.

[Stan McCullars]

Those gutters look like a black hole. I hope they correct it.

[Brance]

For someone on a budget who is interested in owning a copy of this study Bible, which would you recommend? The hardback? The TruTone? Or the genuine leather? That last one stretches my budget somewhat, but I could justify it if I thought it was worth it. I just can't afford the calfskin.

What would you advise?

[Steve]

My personal opinion of study Bibles is that they serve as more of a study resource than for use as a primary daily reading Bible. At least that has been my experience in using them.

So.... because of that, I personally wouldn't invest in more than a hardcover or Trutone edition of this new Bible.

[Mark]

A fair comment Brance. However, I prefer only to acquire study Bibles, but also I insist on a minimum text size of 10 pt. Therefore, I wonder if there was any mention of a large print edition coming in 2009?

It is ashame that large print editions for study Bibles are usually only bonded leather. Would prefer to purchase a genuine leather for durability, but I imagine their sales pale in comparison to the regular print editions.

I was anticipating a 10 pt. ESV study Bible. Hopefully the upcoming CSB (HCSB) study Bible will provide a regular print edition of this size.

Personally, when I compare other printed books and their comfortable font sizes I can't understand why Christians tolerate such piny text. I appreciate that some folks don't mind 7-8 pt. size, but after an hour reading even 9 pt. these 30-something eyes get fatigued. I was happy to see some study Bibles being released in 10 pt. which seems to make a significant difference from 9 pt.

Hopefully some publisher is reading this. :)

Thanks for your coverage on the ESV study Bible.

Regards

[Pastor Ron Parish]

Mark, I certainly agree with you regarding font size. I recently turned the double-nickel, and find it quite difficult reading tiny print. For those of you who can read the small print easily, consider yourselves very blessed!

I learned of the ESV only after finding this excellent blog; one day I would like to own a copy. It's quite hard finding a good quality Bible, anyway. After looking at several from Crossway at a large bookstore, it's evident I could not purchase one of them in their current format. Large (10.5 - 11 pt) is far better suited to some of our needs.

As far as a study Bible is concerned, I tend to preach out of the same Dake Compact Bible I study from. The size of the Bible isn't as much a concern for me as readability. The Dake Bible would be far too big to carry if it had considerably larger type.

Pastor Ron

[Jerry]

For me, text only Bibles (or sometimes text & references) get carried around to church, work, travel, etc.

Study Bibles get used only at the desk.

Thus I will be purchasing this one in hardback.

When it comes to font size, I imagine that publishers have quite a juggling act on thier hands. If they make the font too small they get comments such as we have seen here. If they make it too large then folks complain about the Bible thickness and weight. I don't think that they can please everyone.

[Ted]

There must be an awful lot of material in the back of this bible! The open bible in the 3rd photo is at John 18 and it appears to be not that far past the center of the book.

[Steve]

Actually, the last 1/3rd of this study Bible features an unfolding illustrative "pop-up" section of all the major Bible stories, complete with interactive pull-tabs. ; )

[Mark]

@ Mark & Ron

Enjoyed your comments. Indeed, given the copious notes in a study Bible increasing the font, and therefore the book size and weight, is a concern.

I presently own large print editions of MacArthur NASB, Zondervan NIV Study Bible, and Life Application NLT. They are strictly for personal study (i.e., stay at home). The MacArthur is just too impractical to carry around. However, I do bring a KJV Old Scofield large print (genuine leather) to the Assembly, and if memory serves me correctly, it is a tad smaller than MacArthur but a whole lot lighter.

Notwithstanding your point Ron, and I do agree to its validity, as others have stated most seem content to have a study Bible more for reference then daily reading or portability. While for reference purposes a hardcover makes a lot of sense, I believe there is a market for more 10 pt+/large print study Bibles, especially as readers age.

Up until now maybe (maybe) most of the older Christians used the KJV, which does certainly have much more variety with regards to larger (and giant) font size for certain study Bibles (Scofield being a prime example), but I suspect more aging believers are now looking for other translations and are more interested in study Bibles then perhaps the previous generations before.

I was also disappointed in Nelson's release of their NKJV study Bible, second edition with regards to font size. Hopefully they will release a large print soon (albeit likely in bonded leather and no indexing).

And Mark, when I say "30-something" it is really 39 (first time around) so I can relate. :)

Certainly we have lots of choices in English translations and Bible editions. Not complaining. I understand Bible publishing is a business. Just lamenting how one's choices are rather limited when purchasing study Bibles with larger font sizes. The only other one I am presently interested in acquiring (for reference purposes) would be the NRSV Oxford Annotated.

And please don't get me started on the Ryrie Study Bible. Does anyone know if the font will be larger in the release of this edition later in the year? While some sites report the text to be 10 pt., it appears to be 8.5 pt as indicated at other sites. Strange font actually, as its height is indeed 8.5 pt but due to its width it is easier on the eyes.

Regards

[Andrew]

Funny, that looks an awful lot like the Book of Common Prayer in the background, in the first picture.

What I'd still like to know for sure is whether the hardcover version will have jacket design printed onto the book itself, or just be a nice plain cloth-covered book. Judging by the pictures, I'd say it's the former, but it's hard to know for sure whether this is final. It really does annoy me how this particular detail tends not to be advertised.

[threegirldad]

Pastor Ron Parish,

The ESV available in a large print edition:

http://www.gnpcb.org/catalog/bibles

You'll have to scroll down about 2/3 of the way to find it. Type size is 12.75.

[Brian in Fresno]

Andrew,

If past experience and printing is any indication the hardcover of the Bible will look exactly like the jacket design. For reference I submit the Classic Reference Bible and the Daily Reading Bible. On both of these you can remove the dust jacket and it looks exactly as if you hadn't removed it.

[Bennet McLean]

Ted, the reason John 18 is in the middle of the Bible in these photos isn't due to copious endnotes, but because, as mentioned in the article, this mock-up only features the Gospel of John, repeated over and over again to represent the future products likely thickness.

[PDS]

The "bleed through" on the pages looks very poor. The MacArthur Study Bible also has this problem. If you want to see a comparison, open the MacArthur Study Bible and place the NASB Wide-Margin Cambridge next to it. It's night and day. This may not seem that important, but when you try and read the Bible with the text blurring with the other page, it wears on the eyes alot.

Seems like I'll be waiting for the ESV Study Bible in electronic form as this will be a reference work -- not a Bible I carry around.

[Pastor Ron Parish]

@threegirldad: Thanks for the link. I checked it out, and it looks pretty good. Have you seen that actual Bible up close and in your hands? I wouldn't mind something like that just for reading; it's wonderful to sit down and read for enjoyment without studying in order to preach what the Lord has laid on my heart. It's good to read just for me sometimes!

I'm getting closer to buying an ESV, and now there are more choices. Thank you, everyone, for providing some great comments.

Pastor Ron

[Brian Fox]

I see that they have put the translation name three times on the cover, and I think the little ESV quality seal is redundant there on the front. I understand that they want it to look nice on the shelf in a store, but maybe they could have a plain cloth cover under the dust jacket. I thought they would have learned their lesson with the Classic Reference and Deluxe Reference in hardcovers. Let's just have a classic, conservative looking Bible for those of us who don't like a gaudy cover.

[threegirldad]

Pastor Ron,

The short answer to your question is, "No." That said, I *have* held the ESV Single Column Reference many times (both genuine leather and calfskin), and the Large Print Edition is similar in construction, as I understand. In fact, it actually uses heavier paper (24 lb. vs 21 lb.), so the bleed-through that some people find unacceptable in the ESV SCR shouldn't be an issue.

If your budget allows for the purchase of the Large Print in calfskin, I'm confident that you will be very satisfied with it. And just to be clear, the genuine leather copies that I've looked at aren't terrible by any means. But it's hard to get excited about one of those after holding the calfskin. ;-)

[Andrew]

Yeah, Brian, that's exactly what I'm talking about. I'm with you.