Which Bible, which printing, and which binding...
Until the late nineties, I read and preached from the New International Version. Since then I've exclusively used the New American Standard Bible Updated (1995) Edition. For many reasons that is the Bible I commend. Some in ClearNote Church of Bloomington use the English Standard Version, the Holman Christian Standard Bible, or the New King James. I have no strong objection to these Bibles, but our standard here at ClearNote Church of Bloomington is the NASB Updated Edition. (Here's a longer explanation of why I prefer the NASB.)
Bible Design Blog is the place I turn for reviews of Bible printings and bindings. The details this blog provides are superb. Here's a review of an NASB printed by R. L. Allen and bound in crimson Highland goatskin.
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Comments
But over $200. Yikes. That's out of my budget range. I think I'll just buy a cheap bonded leather one for $10 and replace it every 3 years.
"As is the case so often these days, the text block itself is printed in China."
Printed by Amity, btw.
It's unfortunate. Foundation offers the *best* printed format:
Single column, side reference, black letter.
I encourage readers to contact a gentleman named "Pike" at Foundation: pike(AT)foundationpublications(DOT)com
Foundation Publications is a small publisher, so having others besides me contacting him about Amity would be helpful. He seemed grieved by what I shared with him.
To date, I don't think he's cut ties with Amity.
But Joseph, how do you get emotionally attached to your Bible if you're forever replacing it? I agree, though, over $200 is a lot.
I still use the dark brown Moody Press 1975 edition of the NASB that my dad got for me in 1977, at least in my classes. At home I use a black, genuine leather ESV thinline and we do Bible reading in that translation.
Craig,
I got my wife a large black genuine leather 2-column NASB from Foundation Publications some time back. It says "Printed in the United States of America". I *have* been kicking the idea around of buying another bible, since my current one is about 3 years past its replacement date (ie, 3 years ago the cover came off). How can I know ahead of time which bibles are printed in the USA?
-Joseph
Joseph,
if your Bible is in good condition, other than the missing cover, you can have it rebound.
Ace BookBinding Co. can do a cowhide binding, with 4 or 5 book markers and personalized for $79.00. To my mind, this is a highly practical route.
Other binders can do goatskin or calfskin, but that will cost over $100.00
Stick it to the Bible-publishing man!
Craig,
Nice idea. I think bookbinding is a sadly lost art.
Kamilla
Joseph, my NASB95 obtained a duct tape cover and binding within a year or so of purchase. I've since had to fortify the binding with Loctite construction adhesive. Originally bought c.2002. So I don't think you even need to replace it every 3 years, just keep modifying it!
I now read primarily KJV, and my wife a NKJV, both from Cambridge University Press. The typeset and binding of CUP prints, especially the KJV, are outstanding. Not sure if they print a NASB95, though.
Oh, I see that Joseph is looking for a "USA" printing. Obviously Cambridge wouldn't fit that description!
Denver,
I think the Trinitarian Bible Society uses Cambridge for some of their editions. I got a Windsor edition for $35 plus shipping...bible quality paper and genuine calfskin.
The Bible Design Blog, ironically, turned me on to TBS. You can read an entry on TBS bindings here: http://www.bibledesignblog.com/2009/03/trinitarian-bible-society-kjv-various.html
Count me in among those who love a well made leather binding. Somehow it seems that The Book ought to have a cover that conveys the significance of what's inside. My favorites are:
German translation from 1726/8, Berlenburg (I've got the Torah and the history from the OT)
1611 KJV
Luther-translation NT printed in Leipzig (East Germany) in 1958
And per the recommendation of a Presbyterian pastor I met on a flight to Baltimore, I'm getting into a Zodhiates interlinear KJV/Majority text. Suffice it to say that, as an engineer who learned his Greek the honest way (as variables), it's a slow process for me. :^)
>> Somehow it seems that The Book ought to have a cover that conveys the significance of what's inside.
Uh-oh Bert, this is the road to magnificent cathedrals and big-name pastors and Rolex watches and corruption and indulgences. The reasoning always starts out sounding principled and noble...
Reading this thread I'm getting happier with my bonded leather edition that will someday need an ugly repair job. It will look worthless except to those who have eyes to see. Better for my soul than a Bible I can be proud of!
Daniel..... :^) I seem to remember someone named "Moses" speaking some words, directed by Someone, about a special tent that ought to convey the glory of that Someone.
No?
I've got some beat up Bibles that I love, too, though.
Yeah, and Solomon's glorious temple too, which God inspired the design of (1 Chron. 28:19). Hmm.
I don't think my pocket bible (which is the only one I have) would allow rebinding, because of space, and the fact that the last page is separated from the rest of the text. But what do I know?
I do know that I won't bother. Denver, I've already gone through the ductape repair. I guess I'll have to look into buying some Loctite. :) Thanks for the recommendation.
I that case, if you contact Pike at Foundation Publications (pike(AT)foundationpublications(DOT)com), he will likely share which NASB editions are printed in the U.S. and Canada.
If you do that, would you mind letting him know you don't want to buy Bibles printed by Amity? He actually responded to me several times, and was shocked by what I shared. It would be great to see FP cut ties with Amity. Pike seems like he would like to do the right thing.
Meanwhile, Crossway responded to me generically twice, and has ignored me ever since.
At first glance it would seem to have to be "Humble buildings, humble Bibles".
But maybe there *is* a proper place for the usefulness of having a good quality Bible that will hold up well under constant use, that doesn't cross over into the pride of life (how expensive my watch is, how shiny my car is, how good quality my Bible is). I'm trying to understand how that same principle wouldn't be at work with the church building such that a beautiful/quality/magnificent church building could be useful.
Perhaps it's just that though -- perhaps a magnificent church building *isn't* useful because we understand ourselves enough to know that we'll be drawn away by boasting of that building, hence it won't draw us into better worship as it its magnificence would have been intended to do.
And on the other hand perhaps a good quality Bible *can* be useful because it's not helpful when it keeps falling apart and also we lose the notes in the margins where we have raised up monuments to the Lord's doings in the past. So while it's *possible* to be proud of anything (even a tattered Bible or a plain church building) maybe we have to actually think about it and decide which is actually useful.
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