I’ll leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine which major contemporary translation is not shown on this chart…

• New TNIV page

Biblica is the new name for the merger of IBS (International Bible Society) and STL (Send the Light). The following is the announcement on the new website:

For 200 years International Bible Society (IBS) has been sharing God’s Word around the world. Through two centuries of ministry, IBS has provided Scriptures to soldiers on battlefields, inmates in prisons, immigrants, the poor, and anyone who needs the hope of the Bible.

For 50 years Send the Light (STL) has been taking Christian literature to the farthest reaches of the world, so that people everywhere could encounter Jesus Christ through the gospel message.

In 2007 IBS and STL merged to take the Bible and biblical resources to new places, in more languages, in ways never before envisioned.

IBS-STL moves into a third century of ministry as Biblica. But this is much more than a simple name change. Biblica is driven to reach those who have never experienced the transformational power of God’s Word in ways that uniquely meet their personal needs.

We are motivated by 200 years of passion and commitment to the provision of God’s Word, but with a fresh vision to reach the world with the Bible and resources that bring people into deeper relationship with God.

As you enjoy your time at Biblica.com, we pray that you will engage deeply in God’s Word and join us in sharing it with the world.

According to the ESV blog

I have not yet picked up a copy of the ESV Study Bible and I have to confess to being moderately curious as to how the format works on the Kindle. I would expect a large amount of clicking to access verse notes, as with any Kindle-formatted Bible, but the additional articles and maps would be additional challenges to access. The full-color illustrations would definitely lose some impact with the Kindle’s greyscale presentation.

** Update ** Crossway has made the Gospel of Luke available as their free “sample” download on Amazon – I’ve downloaded that and will take a closer look at how the notes work.

I can only assume that, from this brief description, this edition will feature the cross reference system that was published in the NLT Study Bible (Update: this is confirmed by Keith Williams in the comments below). So if you wanted the updated NLT’07 text with a columnar reference system, but not the Study Bible notes – this might be the Bible for you!

** Update **

In addition to the NLT Reference Bible from Tyndale noted above, there appears to be another new NLT Reference Bible scheduled for publication in August. Evidently Tyndale has licensed the NLT text to Cambridge/Baker Publishing, which is producing a Pitt Minion Reference Edition setting of the text:

The slimline Cambridge Pitt Minion format is widely admired for its compact but clear type and its elegant binding styles. In the NLT editions the words of Christ are printed in red and there are full cross-references, a dictionary/concordance, and maps. It is printed on very thin and light India paper, with gold edges. The pages are Smyth-sewn, giving the books plenty of support and allowing them to stay flat once open.

It must be noted that the Pitt Minion format is slightly smaller than the current slimline NLT Reference Edition, with physical dimensions just under 7″x5″; the font size will likely be smaller as well. In addition to being Smyth-sewn, the bindings are made of premium goatskin and French Morocco, so the prices will be set accordingly. No word yet on whether there will be hardback, bonded leather or imitation leather editions.

ISBN: 0521759242 (black French Morocco)
ISBN: 0521735289 (black goatskin)
ISBN: 0521759218 (brown goatskin)

While the folks at Tyndale may not be able to confirm anything, the fact that Cambridge is using their Pitt Minion layout is potentially exciting news for those of us looking for a wide-margin edition of the NLT. Cambridge has previously produced wide-margin editions of the ESV, NASB and NKJV, all based on the Pitt Minion layout. On the other hand, they have produced Pitt Minion versions of the KJV and NIV without offering a wide-margin edition, though there are wide-margin versions of those translations based on other Cambridge layout styles.

I suppose it’s only fair to mention that Zondervan is offering the TNIV Kindle Edition for $0 – that’s right, it’s a free download.

Crossway has made the same offer available with the ESV, which currently sits at #24 on the Amazon bestseller list, as has Baker Publishing with their God’s Word translation in the #15 slot. I’m happy (blessed?) to have all three of these editions on my Kindle.

Rick Mansfield noted a few weeks ago that the translation itself was completed, while Will at Anwoth confirmed an October 2009 publishing date.

From the sample text provided by WORDsearch, here are the differences from the opening chapter of Genesis between the 1st (2004) and 2nd Edition texts:

As you can see, with just one change in 31 verses (Gen 1:1-31), the revision appears limited in scope. In this case, the text in v.26 has been edited from “animals” to “livestock”, presumably to be in concordance with v.25.

Robert reports a change in 1 Timothy 1, but notes that overall the changes were less significant than he’d hoped.

Update:

For more info and commentary on the HCSB 2nd Edition, check out the following links:

• HCSB 2nd Edition Released by WORDsearch (with Strong’s coding!)
• The HCSB 2nd Edition and the Tetragrammaton
• HCSB Second Edition
• HCSB 2nd Edition – My personal gripes
• HCSB 2nd Edition Ephesians Review

1. The previously noted “Methodist Bible” now has a name:  the Common English Bible, presumbably CEB for short. (HT: Gary Zimmerli)
2. Subversive Influence has posted a review and recommendation for The Voice translation (HT: Eddie Arthur)

First, on This Lamp, Rick includes a brief look at the new NRSV Notetaker’s Bible. This new Bible has a single-column text setting and ruled 2″ outside margins for notes. [sample pages] According to the promo text on CBD’s website, this new edition from Oxford will be available in hardcover, deluxe cloth and bonded leather. The paperback size is 8″x6¼”, while the hardback is a little taller (9″x6¼”) to accommodate the cover. The NRSV Notetaker’s Bible is to be released in February 2009.

Second, a commenter on TC’s New Leaven blog noted the impending release of a new TNIV Bible in Zondervan’s NoteWorthy Collection. Zondervan is taking a slightly different approach by inserting a completely blank page after every page in the Bible. So you have a double-column text page on the left and a blank page for notes on the right. [sample pages] Other features include an inside pocket for notes and an elastic band to keep the cover closed. According to Zondervan, this will be available in black bonded leather, as with the standard version of the TNIV Reference Bible. The paper size is 6¼”x7¼”, almost square like the TNIV² or the NRSV XL editions. The TNIV NoteWorthy is to be released in May 2009.

Finally, the HCSB is also available in a notetaking format. The HCSB Notetaker’s Bible is currently available in separate editions for Men (brown hardback) and Women (mauve/olive green hardback), continuing B&H’s maddening trend of niche publishing. Compared to the NRSV and TNIV editions above, B&H also drops the ball in design aesthetics, simply reproducing the layout of their reference Bibles (double column text with center-column cross references) with ruled lines on the outside and above the text – see the Excerpt pages on CBD’s site. The HCSB Notetaker checks in at 9¼”x7¼”, the largest of all three editions considered here.

Of all three, I like Oxford’s approach with the NRSV the best, especially the single-column text, though I share Rick’s hesitation about the ruled lines. Better, I think, to have just left the space blank for more freeform notes. The TNIV provides more than adequate freeform space “to journal, take notes or sketch”, as their marketing states. This is really quite attractive too and I think this could be a more successful edition than the trim NT edition that Zondervan had previously released, which, at just over 3″ wide, felt tight and awkward just holding it in my hands, much less writing actual notes. Just from the interior page comps, the HCSB looks like a disappointment in aesthetic appeal – I can’t help but feel this was rushed to market to have something in the catalog against competition like the ESV Journaling Bible et al. Hopefully a more thoughtful design is in the works for the promised HCSB “Second Edition” text in 2009.

Finally, I can’t help but think that the plain wide-margin Bible has gone the way of the dodo, replaced by these journaling concept editions. That’s too bad, in my opinion, but with an appeal to publishers to invest in great layout aesthetics, perhaps we can have our cake and eat it too.

I’m familiar with bonded leather, genuine leather, calfskin, goatskin and various other binding styles, but had not seen pigskin before. I think that if you say “pigskin” to most Americans, the first response would be “football!”, even though most footballs are made with cow leather or synthetic materials nowadays.

On first blush, this feels very similar to the stiff “genuine leather” used on my NASB from Foundation Publications. It is not as immediately limp as my Oxford REB Study Bible, but then again it is new and has not been broken in at all. It has a bit more grain than my bonded leather NASB, but lest I’m branded as a leather heretic for comparing the two, I thought I’d dig a little deeper.

The first stop for most Bible leather and binding questions is Mark Bertrand’s “Bible Design and Binding” blog. A search for “pigskin” turned up a few hits, including this one discussing old and new editions of the REB†. In the comments, Mark notes that:

Jerry, the one I have is sewn and bound in Berkshire leather, which according to Cambridge is “a term for pigskin — the material most commonly used in bookbinding when ‘genuine leather’ is the description used.”

For an additional viewpoint, Mechling Bookbindery has the following note in their online glossary of terms:

COWHIDE AND PIGSKIN is from older animals with larger and thicker skins. The skin is skivered (sliced) into thinner layers and embossed with grain pattern and usually finished with a pigment and gloss coating. These skins have a hard finish and are somewhat stiff. Cowhide is an economical alternative to goatskin or calf but not a good choice where soft feel and appearance is important.

Further, Leonard’s Book Restoration notes that:

One of the leathers we use most often at Leonard’s is pigskin, because it’s very strong, but still affordable.  Natural pigskin looks a lot like human skin.  Once it’s dyed purple or red, it really looks much better. [Pigskin is] also known as Berkshire, which is commonly used on Bibles in natural and pressed grains. In many cases, Bibles which say “genuine leather” are covered with pigskin.

So there seems to be general agreement that “pigskin” is “Berkshire leather” is “genuine leather” and that it is the most economical “real leather” option available for book binding. It’s interesting that Cambridge produced this same edition with the term “Berkshire leather” (not calfskin, as Amazon describes) while Oxford used “pigskin leather”. I guess it’s all marketing in the end.

* * * * *

†For the record, the edition I now have was jointly published by Oxford/Cambridge in 1989 (the ISBN in the first paragraph above is an Oxford number) and resembles the older example discussed on Mark’s blog, though mine is burgundy without any titling on the front and came in a cardboard slipcover. I would also echo the comment to that post that the ISBNs listed on the title page match those of the equivalent REB hardback edition – the ISBN on the slipcover (listed above) is the unique number for the pigskin binding.

* * * * *

Update: a few photos now included. I apologize for the poor lighting conditions.

Certainly with a “Buy It Now” price of $19,500 USD, one might expect it to be authentic? Though that hardly compares with the “BIN” of $119,000 USD that the seller is asking for a First Edition 1611 King James…