Bible Design and Binding

Leonard's Book Restoration

One of the things I try to do here is share information about Bible rebinding. We've shown off quite a few rebinding projects (and I have a backlog of new ones, just waiting for me to post), and I provide a list of Rebinding Links in the right-hand column to point you to various sources. Having a Bible rebound is an exciting process, opening up a world of possibilities, but as always, it's important to have realistic expectations. Our community is fortunate to be served by a number of skilled craftsmen, and I hate to see the quality of their work obscured by the disappointment that "it isn't perfect."

I've had a link to Leonard's Book Restoration for awhile now, but it wasn't until this morning (thanks to Matt Blair) that I discovered their blog, which includes this charming demonstration of what bonded leather sounds like when it rips! 

 

Proprietor Eric Haley, who's featured in the video, has written about why he doesn't like "floppy" Bibles. His rationale has to do with durability:

"So my case against floppy Bibles is this. To achieve it nearly always requires a very thin leather with no interior liner, and almost no glue to secure the end pages. Because it's so floppy, the reader is then tempted to fold the Bible over backwards while holding it. <wince!> This stretches the sewing, warps the spine, and/or breaks the glued binding. The end result is a short-lived Bible. Eventually, that result will reflect on the one who made it a floppy Bible in the first place."

It's no surprise that I value flexibility in a cover, so you might think reading this would induce a <wince!> in me. Not so. 

Another Good Deal

Several of you have e-mailed me about a great deal the folks at Ligonier, RC Sproul's ministry, are offering. To celebrate Reformation Week (i.e., this week, which culminates in Reformation Day -- Halloween to everybody else), they're offering a genuine leather edition of the Reformation Study Bible (ESV) in return for a donation of any size. The offer is good until October 31. The details are here:

"Get a Reformation Study Bible for a donation of any amount"

And here:

"RYM Offer"

There's a one-copy-per-family limit, while supplies last.

Good Deals

If you haven't been watching the exchange rates recently, you might not realize that the value of the British pound against the dollar has fallen considerably. Today at XE.com, one pound is worth $1.59. Not long ago, it was north of $1.90. That means an £85 Bible from R. L. Allan & Sons that would have cost more than $160 not long ago is closer to $135 now. So far, my efforts to convince my wife that going crazy on the Swaine Adeney Brigg site now makes good economic sense have met with little success, though.

Crossway is offering seconds of the ESV Thinline bound in cordovan calfskin for just $75. This is not only a $75 savings over retail, but about $30 less than the discounted firsts on Amazon. If you don't mind a Bible with a little damage -- and let's face it, a little damage up front might help you worry less about "abusing" a nice edition -- then this is worth considering. The cordovan calfskin is my favorite binding from Crossway. The large print in black calfskin is half off at $100, too.

I've come across another ESV deal, too, this time at EvangelicalBible.com, where they have a calfskin hardback Journaling Bible discounted to just $33.75. I have one of these and it's an elegant edition -- it would make a nice gift, too.

Any other deals out there? Let us know in the comments.

ESV Study Bible Under the Knife

For those of you mystified by the orange triangle on the cover of the ESV Study Bible with TruTone cover, Matt Blair has a solution: the scalpel. Sure enough, he's taken an X-Acto knife to the stitching and done away with the offending applique -- and posted the photos to prove it. Take a look at his blog, The Foolish Galatian:

"ESV Study Bible triangle hack"

Also, my thanks to Matt for linking to my Radio Worldview interview about Bible translations. Every so often, I'll get an e-mail asking for recommendations . . . if you want to know my thoughts, this interview is the place to go.

Review of the new Allan's Journal

There's a very helpful review of the newest version of the Allan's Journal over at Black Cover, which includes some photos of the original from my post awhile back. If you're wondering how they've changed, this is a good place to look.

If you're a notebook lover like me, you'll want to bookmark the site, along with notebookism where I found the original link. (And yes, I confess, when I saw one of my own photos on notebookism, I felt a warm fuzzy. People complain this site costs them, but that one has cost me plenty!)

ESV SB TruTone Unboxing at Yueh's Place

Desperate for unboxing photos of the ESV Study Bible with the black TruTone cover? Steven Yueh has posted a whole set, accessible from his blog. Here's the link:

ESV SB Unboxing Photos at Yueh's Place

Thanks, Steven!

More Black ESV1 Photos

The arrival of the new Allan's ESV1 has brought out the lensmen! Next at bat is reader Will Cornell, who recently set up a light box and decided to snap some pictures of his black ESV1 along with a few other editions (like the TruTone ESV Study Bible). He's uploaded an entire library of shots to Picasa, and here's the link:

Will Cornell's ESV1 Photo Album

Thanks for sharing, Will!

ESV SB in Calfskin at StillTruth.com

Waiting on an ESV Study Bible in black calfskin? Thomas Black has his already, and he's snapped a lot of photos for the rest of us to enjoy, along with his thoughts on the Bible as a whole. Check out the link at StillTruth.com:

"Reviewing the ESV Study Bible in Calfskin"

Note in particular the size comparison. I have my Allan's ESVs stacked on top of my TruTone ESV SB right now, and they look quite dainty in comparison.

Cambridge ESV Pitt Minion (Four Editions)

I picked up my first Pitt Minion at a Dublin cathedral bookstore a few years before Cambridge re-introduced the format. Printed by the Trinitarian Bible Society, it features a rugged, grainy calfskin binding with vinyl lining, semi-yapp covers, two ribbons, and art-gilt pages. Whenever they saw it, people would ask where I'd found it and how they could get one, too. So I haven't been at all surprised by the success the format has enjoyed since Cambridge brought it back. Now it seems that the Pitt Minion and the wide margin based on the same setting are the one-two punch in the Cambridge line-up. Various evangelical-friendly translations -- the KJV, the NIV, the NKJV, the NASB -- are available in this combination, and now the ESV is following suit. The Pitt Minions are officially on the market, with the wide margins expected to follow later this year or early next.

Above: Two options in goatskin -- black and brown -- and a third in burgundy French morocco. The imitation leather is not pictured, but just wait...

Above: I never store softcover, leather-bound Bibles on their edges like this, but I just wanted to show that they hold their own on a crowded shelf.

Earlier this year, I reviewed the NKJV Pitt Minion in black goatskin. Just about everything I said there applies to the ESV Pitt Minion, too. There's no need for suspense in this case, so I won't make you wait until the end of the review to find out whether these things are any good. They're great. The ESV Pitt Minion is available in four bindings: two goatskins (black and brown), burgundy French morocco, and a two-tone tan and red imitation leather. They're all excellent -- no surprised there -- and which one you choose will have more to do with aesthetic preferences than anything else.

Above: Using the brown goatskin edition for a morning read. There's only one ribbon, but don't succumb to the temptation of using a leaf marker!

Alan Cornett's Thoughts on the Tan Allan's ESV1

Alan Cornett received his tan Allan's ESV1 from EvangelicalBible.com, then snapped some fantastic photos to post to his blog Theosebes, along with some thoughts on the edition. He captures the grain of the cover particularly well, so I encourage you to click over and take a look. Here's the link:

"The Cashmere of Bible Covers"

To those of you who haven't followed the commentary, I want to repeat some information here. The ESV1 uses a text block printed in China by Collins for the UK edition of the ESV. The text block says it was printed and bound in China, which is true for the regular Collins editions, but the Allan's editions are actually bound in London.