Bible Design and Binding

Rick Mansfield on the NLT Study Bible and More

Since I shared the NLT Study Bible video yesterday, I figured I should also mention Rick Mansfield's review of the edition:

NLT Study Bible: Hands-On Review [UPDATED]

Also, check out:

Rise of the New Living Translation.

Rick also has the goods on the new leather-bound edition of the TNIV Reference Bible:

Preview: TNIV Reference Bible, Renaissance Leather Edition (with photos) [UPDATED]

If the photos are anything to judge by, it looks good -- and it's great to see Zondervan putting out a quality leather-bound Bible. According to Rick, it's a case-constructed cowhide cover, and hence quite flexible.

Zondervan Reader's Hebrew Bible & Greek NT, and the ESV Single Column Reference

A couple more reviews to recommend:

Fr. Bill Klock has reviewed Zondervan's Reader's Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament at Northwest Anglican. He gives the new Hebrew edition an unqualified thumbs up, but has mixed feelings about the NT.

Matt Blair turns his attention to the ESV Single Column Reference edition. Personally, I was disappointed when this edition came out -- it seemed like the solution to a non-existent problem, and the retrograde movement to an unparagraphed, verse-per-line text was wincingly painful back in the days when there was no true single column ESV available. But Matt (like many of you) has a different take: he appreciates a lot of the things I was predisposed to see as flaws. So click on over and see why.

Matt Blair on the ESV NT and Sewn Bindings

If you haven't bookmarked Matt Blair's blog The Foolish Galatian already, here are two new reasons. He's written an information and well-illustrated review of an edition I haven't mentioned here, the ESV New Testament:

ESV Pocket New Testament at The Foolish Galatian

And, he's offering a helpful tutorial on how to determine whether a Bible is glued or sewn:

"How to determine if you have a glued or sewn binding" at The Foolish Galatian

Good stuff!

More Bible Reviews

For those of you who enjoyed the link to Greg Terry's review, I have some more reader links to share! First, take a look at Winston Waldemayer, who's posted a number of well-illustrated reviews:

Reigning Immortal Blog -- Bibles

Winston has written about the Cambridge KJV Concord in both goatskin and calfskin, and the popular NIV Bold-Print Reference from R. L. Allan's.

Ron Parish, a frequent commenter here, has also been writing about Bibles at Preacherpen's Weblog. He also has some interesting info on Bible software for people running Linux, if you're that way inclined. Check it all out:

Preacherpen's Weblog - Bibles

Thanks, guys, for sharing your insight with the rest of us!

Why is Cabra Bonded Leather Better?

Eric Hampton of Intercover Ltd. got in touch recently to share some information about Cambridge's "Cabra bonded leather." If you've read my review of the Pocket Cross-Reference NIV, you know that this is the only bonded leather I've ever praised. I knew there was something different about Cabra, but I didn't know what it was. Now, thanks to Eric, I do. He explains:

We are the UK agents for Salamander Bonded Leather, who manufacture Cabra used by Cambridge University Press here in the UK. You may be interested to know that Cabra is the only bonded leather manufactured using only natural ingredients. The 'resin' described in the CUP description of Cabra is in fact natural latex, not a man-made plastic resin. In fact, it is one of a number of products like paper that can be described as being manufactured from recycled materials and is wholly biodegradable. This does not apply to any other bonded leather product except Cabra.

Thanks for the information, Eric. Perhaps the natural latex accounts for the increased suppleness found in Cabra bonded leather. Whatever it is, the difference is quite pronounced in comparison to the plastic-like feel of other bonded Bibles.