David Ernest Sumrall did everything right. He started with an excellent edition. He went to an excellent binder. He got an excellent result. The photos speak for themselves:
David wrote to me about the project:
I stumbled across your blog one day and must admit I fell in love. There are few things that I enjoy in life as much as a good Bible to read. I have filled so many Bibles with notes that I can no longer find that I was completely intrigued by your blank Bible concept. I contacted Paul Sawyer and had him make three sets of blank Bibles for me based on the Cambridge single column NIV. I had one set done in red for my wife, a brown set for a friend and a black with blue interior for myself. I thought I would send you the pictures. Paul did an excellent job and I am having so much fun. Thank you so much for the wisdom your website has presented.
Here's how the exterior turned out:
Obviously, the NIV Single Column Text Bible was divided into three parts. Interleaving all that extra paper -- a blank page between each printed one -- would have increased the heft considerably, especially with thicker paper. The spines look great. With those raised bands and the crisp lettering, they'd look nice on a shelf of antiquarian volumes.
A single column text setting is ideal for the wide margin treatment, since you can make notes right beside the relevant passage. As you can see, the same principle applies to blank Bibles. The NIV Single Column from Cambridge is an ideal starting point for this kind of project.
If you search the site, you can find other examples of Paul Sawyer's work. I'd like to offer a special thanks to David for sharing the photos with us. This is an inspirational project, to be sure!
Looks great. I'd be curious to know what some of the better binders are, preferably one I can ship something to and they ship me the result. I'd like to look at rebinding some of my great Bibles. Any suggestions?
Posted by: Aaron Graves | January 18, 2010 at 10:32 AM
So let me see if I understand this...the signatures were totally disassembled and blank sheets inserted, then re-sewn through the original holes? So the book breaks between volumes are wherever the original signatures put them? Or are the volumes no longer Smyth-sewn but perhaps side-stitched? The pictures seem to show the volumes not opening particularly flat??
If only single sheets were inserted between printed pages, I guess the blank sheets are about 3x the thickness of the Cambridge's original paper, since the overall work is now 4x as thick??? That would seem to take care of any concerns with bleed-through of any personal notations, right? Nice!
Posted by: Bill | January 18, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Aaron,
I had a bible recently bound by http://oldleather.com and it was absolutely wonderful. I would be curious what Mr. Bertrand thinks of the work done over there. (incidentally, I am in no way affiliated with the linked site... I'm just happy with their work)
Posted by: Duane | January 18, 2010 at 01:11 PM
Hmmm. Nice job with the rebinding. Of course, once you've filled all the pages with notes, you're stuck...
Posted by: Richard Zuelch | January 18, 2010 at 05:38 PM
David's description about how one set was done for himself, one for his wife, and one for a friend makes me think I need to find new friends.
Posted by: Mark S | January 18, 2010 at 08:38 PM
Duane, it seems like that website is not working at present. I'll try it again later in the day. Thanks for the suggestion though!
Posted by: Aaron Graves | January 19, 2010 at 05:27 AM
Kudos David. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Kyle Hedrick | January 19, 2010 at 12:54 PM
Reminds me of the "Pulpit Bible" that Dr. Jack Hyles had printed twenty years ago, but it was OT and NT in one binding. Yes, it was huge. I had one professor in college that used it in his chapel sermons. Other than that, I have never seen it used by anyone; I have only seen it for sale.
I did a quick Google search and I just didn't see anything like it available. They probably quit printing it 15 years ago, for all I know.
The Bible itself was interesting to look at, but just unwieldy and impractical.
Posted by: Wilson Hines | January 20, 2010 at 06:38 AM
Aaron-kick around this site and explore the links on the right under the "rebinding links" header. I've never had a Bible rebound, but I'm in the process of finalizing some details with Abba Bibles before I send off a crate of five Bibles to Mexico City. I did alot of exploring, reading reviews on this site, contacting several re-binders, exploring web-sites, etc., before picking Abba. It looks like there are alot of good places, each with its own "flavor," if you will. In the US, I think Mechling probably looks the best, judging by the reviews posted on this site.
Re: Why I'm going with Abba, I'll have a more informed opinion once I get my Bibles back, but, for now, here are the plusses and minuses of going with Abba:
Plusses:
Beautiful calfskin covers.
They do leatherwork for such beautiful editions as the Nelson Signature Series Bibles and the Crossway ESV Cordovan Calfskin editions.
*WAY* less expensive than *ANY* rebinder I've contacted in the US.
They consider their work to be a ministry.
Based on the photos I've seen on this site of Abba rebinds, when you send your Bible to Abba, they basically give you the same beautiful treatment they give to their Nelson and Crossway Bibles.
Minuses:
Shipping! It will cost me $25+ to ship from the US to Mexico City, and I'm still trying to find out how much the return shipment will cost. That's part of the reason I'm sending down a box of five Bibles--I'd rather get all my rebinding done in one load than send them one at a time and increase the shipping cost. I'm also bracing for a long turn-around time because of the international shipping. This wouldn't be an issue if I were willing to spend mucho-mula for UPS to do a three-day delivery. But, if I did that, I wouldn't have discressionary spending left for the re-bind! But, I am very willing to wait for Abba's quality!
Language(?): I really don't think this is a big deal, since Lorena seems to speak English really well. I speak Spanish OK, so I've been corresponding with Lorena in Spanish, though.
Only calfskin and cowhide: As far as I known, they don't do goatskin or anything else. That's not a problem for me, but if you're looking for something besides calfskin or cowhide, maybe Abba isn't for you.
I don't think that any of those minuses really should turn you off from Abba, though. Sure, it may be cheaper to ship to someone in the US if you live in the US, but Abba does such good work, it's worth the cost of shipping.
Well, Aaron, I hope that this helps! I'll have better feedback when I get my Bibles back. And, yes, Mark, I'll send photos!
Posted by: H Jim | January 20, 2010 at 06:48 PM
Dave-this looks awesome!
Posted by: H Jim | January 20, 2010 at 06:54 PM
Thanks "H Jim" for your post. Admittedly I'm looking at goatskin, but have never explored a calfskin. I will look into Abba. I have looked at Mechling, it's on my short list to do further research on.
Posted by: Aaron Graves | January 21, 2010 at 09:44 PM
Upon first glance, my initial thought was to question the actual need of inserting a blank page next to every single page of the Scriptures, wondering if there was truly a need for having that much room in which to write potential clarifications, literal renderings, and the resultant gargantuan/unwieldy size. Not to mention the impracticality of the mobility of such (*stares at briefcase*)
Until I noticed it was an NIV. ;)
Posted by: joebib | January 22, 2010 at 09:46 AM
Leatherbibles.com I think uses Abba binding - I have had leatherbibles.com and Mechling do some of my rebinding. I liked Leatherbibles.com (Abba) best. Soft and limber.
Mechling was nicely done but not as flexible.
Posted by: Jay Davis | January 22, 2010 at 03:59 PM
Jay - Yes, Leatherbibles.com does use Abba for their "Exclusive Calfskin" and I believe that for "H Jim" it would be cheaper in terms of shipping if he went through them.
Can you tell us more (pics maybe??) of the rebind that you did with Abba (via Leatherbibles.com). How long did the whole process actually take? I've sent off a Bible to them and they've told me four to six months.
Posted by: Dave Bush | January 25, 2010 at 10:38 AM
My entire purpose of this project was a private devotional bible to write and learn in. It is not to preach from. I use a clean bible and detailed notes in a Kindle DX for that. I have tried large loose leaf bibles but the pages get destroyed even in a zippered cover. The binding has loosened as I have used it. It has been a great joy to use.
Posted by: David Sumrall | January 26, 2010 at 02:55 PM
Do I have this right DS? You preach from a hard-copy Bible, but your sermon notes have been pdf'ed and transferred to a large Kindle that sits next to (or on top of) the Bible? Interesting. No page shuffling, huh?
Posted by: Bill | January 26, 2010 at 08:10 PM
No. I do my devotions etc in a hard copy bible. I preach out of a Kindle DX with detailed notes and all the scriptures typed into the outline. When you preach the same sermon 5 times on a weekend the detailed notes make sure you stay on track. HaHaHa
I also always have a hard copy bible in the pulpit. I also will use a fujitsu 6012 linked to the main screens to teach people how to read and mark their bibles from time to time
Posted by: David Sumrall | January 28, 2010 at 01:21 AM
DS,
Oh, a tabletPC! They haven't gotten much mention on this blog. Yes, I've seen presenters adding hand-written notes in real-time with the stylus/mouse to PowerPoint presentations and can envision how that could be useful with both word processor (Bible text) or standard slides. Yet, regardless of having a tablet and a large Kindle, you still prefer paper for personal use. I guess that describes most of us here.
Posted by: Bill | January 30, 2010 at 09:23 PM
The Classic Note Bible has every other page Blank in one Volume.http://www.pilkingtonandsons.com/interleavedbibles.htm
Plus check out these other Bibles like it. http://www.lifelineprinting.com/interleaf_bibles.htm
Posted by: Brian McClurg | February 04, 2010 at 10:54 PM
Dave--I don't believe you responded to Bill's first post, and I'm really curious: Are the signatures still intact, and re-smythe-sewn, or are they now single sheets which have been, as Bill says "side-stitched?"
Re: My Abba rebind, I somewhat sheepishly must report that my wife talked me down to only sending two Bibles (to be rebound into a single volume--a Hebrew Tanakh and a Greek NT) to Abba untill I'm in a better place financially. I'll post pics when I get them back. As for sending this particular project in the states to save on shipping, I wouldn't dream of it. The page edges are not gilt, and having them gilt in the states would be prohibitively expensive.
Brian: thanks for the links to these interleaved KJVs. These look nice, affordable, and well bound (in goatskin, no less). Affordable is an understatement--a goatskin edition for $50! I'm thinking someone in my family who use the KJV might get that as a gift next Christmas.
Posted by: H Jim | March 05, 2010 at 08:17 PM
Would Paul do this for others or should we contact Abba ?
Posted by: Steve Bradford | April 06, 2010 at 04:45 PM
Did Paul Sawyer do the interleafing as well? And How much did it cost?
Posted by: PEEJAY | April 20, 2012 at 12:34 PM