Preorder started today for Schuyler’s Quentel ESV. Ship date will be somewhere between October and November. This Bible includes a great set of features that we’ve come to expect from Schuyler, including:

• 11 point font
• 38 gsm paper
• 80,000 cross references
• art gilting
• 32 pages of maps
• black text with red highlights

It will be available in the same colors as the Schuyler KJV seen here and in dark green.

There is more information on Schuyler’s ESV Quentel page.

The post Schuyler Quentel ESV Available for Preorder appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

In a world where quality continues to plummet, Schuyler Bibles has set a new standard of excellence both in product and service. If I managed a Bible publisher I would definitely pay close attention to Schuyler Bibles.

So what makes a Schuyler Quentel so great? There are a few answers to that question, and to show why the Quentel is, deservedly, the best you can buy, we will also take a look at the other premium Bibles that I own, the NASB In Touch Ministries Edition Note Takers Bible (Foundation Publications), the NASB Side Column Reference Bible (Foundation Publications) and Holman Giant Print Reference Bible.

About the Quentel Bible

From the Website:

1.  All the standard features of a reference Bible: 95,000 Cross References, Footnotes, Concordance.

2.  27 pages of extensive Oxford maps plus map index (include: Jerusalem, Land of Canaan, Exodus and Wilderness, Joshua Judges Samuel Saul, David and Solomon, Israel and Judah, Assyrian Empire, Persian Empire, Judah in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods, Empire of Alexander, Kingdom of Herod, Judea in the 1st Century AD, Places mentioned in the NT, Roman Empire, Paul’s Missionary Journeys.)

3.  Cover: Goatskin – with full perimeter stitching. (Black, Brown, Imperial Blue and Firebrick Red) – 4 x 1cm ribbon markers.

4.  Full leather linings. – with gilt line in the interior.

5.  Art Gilt Edging (Red Under Gold) – except with blue cover – blue under silver.

6. Paper – 45 gsm – the most opaque Bible paper found in any Bible- with line matching to offset any see through.  (Many Bible have 19-24 gsm paper)

7.  Font – about  11 point bold font.  Black letter text with brick red color for chapter numbers.

8. Trim Size – 6″ x 9″; 1650 pages; 47 mm or 1.8″ thick.

9.  Cross References (95,000)  & Concordance (20,000)

From My own observations during daily use…

(I have had this Bible for a few days and have been using it as my primary Bible.)

The Leather and Binding:

I have handled many leather Bibles, including a few calfskin Bibles that I own. I also own a wide range in covers including genuine leather (usually pigskin), genuine cowhide (and yes, there is a difference between the genuine cowhide and the genuine calfskin), bonded leather, and imitation leather.  There is a reason why the finest Bibles use goatskin. The leather cover is extremely soft and supple, a real delight to the fingers. Not only can you clearly see the grain of the leather, you can feel the natural texture of the skin as it caresses your fingers.

This is the first leather Bible that I have owned which was not burgundy, brown, or black and I must say that I am pleasantly surprised. When I first heard about Imperial Blue as a color I thought of something else entirely. My mind pictured a lighter, almost robin’s egg color. In reality, Imperial Blue is more along the lines of Navy Blue but feels more majestic/stately, which would make sense given the color is Imperial and not Navy. The color is quite pleasing to the eye.  

When I compare this to the 3 “premium” Bibles that I already own, I find the following about the covers:

Holman Giant Print KJV (Brown Cowhide) has a similar feel with regard to the grain but it is not as supple or limp as the Schuyler Quentel. Of all four of my high end Bibles, this one is the most stiff, however, it is also the smallest and feels most comfortable in my hand.

Foundation Publications NASB Side Column Reference Bible seems to have, and this was a shock to me, a more supple cover than the Quentel. I find this odd for two reasons: 1. It is made in China (and I could not find any information about the bindery) as opposed to being bound by Royal Jongbloed, who by all accounts that I can find, is one of the best binders in the industry. 

In Touch Ministries Wide Margin Edition NASB (also foundation publications) has a cover that is, for the most part, on par with the Quentel NASB. Again I was left devoid of any information regarding the binding house. That being said, the In Touch Wide Margin is top grain cowhide leaving the Quentel NASB with the more premium feel. (To be fair, most people would not really be able to tell the difference. My dad works quite a bit with leathers as a hobby and, while I am no where near an expert, he did teach me how to spot the quality differences. Between the two, I could not pick one over the other. Each is absolutely the best Bible you can get for its intended purpose. 

The binding, which is sewn, is quite sturdy. One can tell, from looking closely, that this is a very well put together binding with the obvious intent of being used on a daily basis and even in the field while ministering.

This is not a lightweight Bible by any stretch. It is noticeably heavier than my normal daily Bible, which is the In Touch Wide Margin Bible. In terms of weight/practicality to carry, it is about even between the HCSB Study Bible and the ESV Study Bible. Whether you carry daily and/or attempt to use one handed, is dependent on the size of your hand and how comfortable you are with the weight.

The Translation:

This is absolutely the most important part of choosing a Bible. Schuyler Bibles offers editions of the 4 major formal equivalence or word for word translations, though at the time of writing, only the NASB is available in the Quentel with the ESV, NKJV and KJV being available in 2014 (ESV), 2015 (NKJV) and 2016 (KJV). I choose NASB as often as possible because there is no Bible more literal. In point of fact, NASB is often accused of being “wooden” because the translation is so strictly literal. The English Standard Version, soon to be available in a Quentel Bible, is also an excellent choice. Several scholars find it to be somewhat less strict and therefore more readable. Whichever of the two you choose, you should be extremely pleased with your new Quentel Bible.

On a side note, a visiting pastor at my church had an ESV Schuyler Bible that I got to look at. While it is every bit as pleasing to the eye as its NASB counterpart, I still prefer the NASB both for its translation and for its font size as the ESV looked like 9.5 font. The ESV Quentel will be an 11 point font.

The Paper: 

When you select your Bible the only other choice that deserves equal weight with the translation is the paper. The paper is critically important because you want your Bible to last your whole life and also because, I hope, you plan to write in it.  As you study, the Lord will speak to your heart and you will want to write notes in it.

According to the Schuyler Bible website this paper is 45 GSMs thus making it the most opaque in the industry. As fas a I am aware, the other two premium Bible makers, RL Allan and Sons as well as Cambridge, both use 32 GSM Paper for many, but not all, of their Bibles, which is still much more opaque than most Bibles are using.

I have a wonderful contact at the distributor for Schuyler Bibles, here in the US, that tells me that the paper in the ESV Quentel will be 38 GSMs but it is actually as opaque and its NASB twin.

The color of the paper, along with its opacity, comes in quite handy when reading in lower light settings. For example, I keep the lighting in my bedroom lower than the rest of my apartment to help relax and many of my Bibles cannot be read from the light offered by my bedside table. This was an absolute non issue with the Quentel; the early morning light was also very easy to read from. I think it safe to say that even though it is a reference Bible and not a Reader’s Edition, this might actually be the perfect reading Bible.

Ghosting, which is a major problem with many Bible publishers is so minuscule that it hardly rates a mention but I know that many readers want to know about it. I feel confident in saying that with Quentel, you are free to highlight, underline, circle, or otherwise markup your Bible in accordance with your preferred study methods and will not have to worry about bleed through.

The Print and layout: 

11 point font!! Wait. Read that again. 11 point font!! Ordinarily you have to get a large/giant print Bible for a font size so generous. My Holman Giant Print Reference Bible comes in at 14 point font but isn’t really more readable, at least in my opinion. My regular Bible, the In Touch Wide Margin comes in at a 10 point font, which is slightly less generous though still easy to read. The Side Column Reference Bible is also a 10 point font and in terms of readability, for me, I would put this one exactly even with the Quentel (again a surprise for me).

To be fair, the print size makes this a not small Bible and that is 100% ok with me; in general I am not a small person so I do not mind the trade off of a slightly larger, heavier Bible to get the font size that I want. Line matching helps to eliminate ghosting and also keeps the poetry from looking like a chopped up mess. The Scripture text, itself, is black but hides a wonderful treat for the eyes. The chapter numbers and the verse headings at the top of the page are a soft cranberry; it is absolutely gorgeous.

References are found at the bottom of the page along with translation notes. I have to admit, I was not excited with this fact at first. I am happy to say that the people who made this Bible are much smarter than I am and the references being at the bottom was genius. The reference location enables the larger text and it also makes for a more visually appealing layout. (It should, after all, be a joy to read the Bible.)

The one and only “dissatisfaction”

What I wouldn’t give for this to have been a wide margin edition (Those who know me know I prefer a wide margin)! Quentel is so close to being the absolute perfect Bible, and for most people it is, but my personal preference is for a wide margin Bible. I don’t often write in my Bible but sometimes the Spirit tells me something so important it has to find its way into a margin. I really cannot fault them, though, as making the Quentel Bible a wide margin Bible would probably make the Bible too cumbersome to be of any practical use. 

Overall Impression:

If all you look at when you evaluate the Quentel NASB is the sticker price, you will miss out on what would otherwise be the best Bible you will ever own. I am absolutely certain that a Quentel Bible will easily last 50 years or more. It is, bar none, the most well put together Bible I have ever had the privilege to handle.

It is no cliche to call the Quentel Bible a work of art, though that does not do justice. The master craftsmen of the Schuyler family, along with their most excellent partners at 2k/Denmark and Royal Jongbloed have put together a true masterpiece to honor the Father and His word.

Schuyler Publishing provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review. My opinions are my own.

The post Schuyler Bibles’ Quentel NASB Bible: The Very Best You Can Get appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

Crossway’s Single Column Legacy is the latest edition to receive the Heirloom treatment. Here are some photos’s that compare it to other Bibles in goatskin or similar sizes. These photos compare it to Crossway’s original Single Column Legacy, Cambridge ESV Clarion and Concord, R.L. Allan Longprimer, and Schuyler KJV and NKJV. Obviously not an exhaustive list, but it should be enough to help get the idea.

Crossway’s Single Column Legacy

Cambridge ESV Clarion

Cambridge Concord

R.L. Allan Longprimer

Schuyler KJV

Schuyler NKJV (review coming soon)

The post Single Column Legacy Heirloom Comparisons appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

The New King James version is one of my favorites but it falls short when it comes to premium editions. Schuyler’s edition has always intrigued me. It’s a reprint of the Nelson single-column paragraph edition. When Schuyler released a second edition I decided it was time to review it.

Pros

• Jongbloed
• Goatskin leather
• Nice paper
• Large font

Cons

• Line-matching incomplete

Features

• NKJV
• 8 presentation pages
• Goatskin leather
• Leather lined
• Sewn binding
• 32 GSM paper
• 10.5 font
• Black letter
• Single-column paragraph
• Translation notes
• Concordance
• 16 pages for notes
• 8 pages of maps
• 4 ribbons
• Art-gilt red under gold
• 9.75 x 6.5 x 1.6
• Printed and bound in the Netherlands by Jongbloed

Cover and Binding

The cover is firebrick red goatskin. The color is rich but not too bright. The grain is natural and really nice. The cover is soft and flexible. It is perimeter stitched. The liner is also leather and is edge-lined as expected. It has no trouble lying flat, or any position I placed it in for that matter.

Paper and Print

The paper is thick, 32 GSM, and has that cream tone that I love. There’s just something about that paper that has that look and feel. The print quality is outstanding. The 10.5 font is sharp and consistent throughout. The font is sans-serif. I only have one complaint- the line-matching is incomplete. Most pages have it; and they are a joy to read. The pages that do not have it is noticeable and kind of stands out because the rest of the text has it. It’s still easy enough to read, but the lack of line-matching looks out of place and took me out of the reading experience a few times until I got used to it.

Layout

This is a single-column paragraph format. Poetry is set to verse and OT quotes in the NT are offset. Section headings are bold and centered. The section headings only appear at the beginning of a chapter, so there are no distractions within the text.

Notes and References

The standard NKJV footnotes are placed in the footer and are keyed to the text with letters. The NKJV has my favorite translation notes because it gives the textual variants and tells you which manuscripts they refer to. It uses NU for Nestle-Aland and United Bible Societies 4^th edition Greek texts, and M for the Majority Text. Other notes include the Septuagint, Vulgate, Masoretic, Bomberg, Targum, Syriac, Theodotion, and maybe even a few others. Notes also include weights and measures, alternate names for places and people, referenced passages, parallel passages, OT quotes, and alternate renderings in Hebrew and Greek. The notes are easy to use and are placed out of the way so they’re not distracting.

Helps

There are a few helps in the back. Nothing for serious study, but the sections for Christmas and Easter might be helpful for sermon prep and personal study.

• Read the Bible Through in a Year – one reading from the OT and one from the NT each day
• 30 days with Jesus
• 90-Day Overview of the Bible
• Passages for the Christmas Season
• Passages for the Easter Season
• 16 pages for notes.

Concordance

The concordance is 61 pages with three columns per page. It’s not the largest concordance but it does have more entries that I expected. There are 38 entries for God.

Maps

There are 8 pages of full-color maps. There isn’t an index, but they are labeled well. The paper isn’t the heavy card-stock but it is thicker than the regular Bible paper and non-glossy. I prefer this to the glossy paper.

Ribbons

There are four red ribbons. They’re the same style and size as the Schuyler KJV ribbons. Unlike the KJV, which as multicolor, these are all the same red. I would have preferred multiple colors as they are great for study and teaching/preaching. Still, having four ribbons is awesome. They are wide and definitely long enough.

How I used it

Reading

I really enjoyed reading this one. I read from it while carrying it around my backyard, sitting under a tree, sitting in the car, standing in various rooms in the house, and sitting in my favorite chair. I had no trouble reading in every light that I tried. I usually held it with two hands but sometimes I held it with one hand and let it drape across my arm. What I liked most about reading it is the font, the paper, and the fact that there are no real distractions. I also enjoy reading the Clarion, but I have to look at every note. This one does have the notes, but I don’t find myself keying in on them. There are headings at the beginning of each chapter, but none throughout the chapter. It can feel a little large and heavy though. Reading is my favorite use for this Bible.

Study

The only study tools in it are translation notes and a concordance. I got a lot of use out of them but I always found that I needed cross references. I would sometimes want to reach for another Bible. I do most of my study sitting at a table where I have room for other tools and I put them to use a lot during study with this Bible. The text itself was a joy to study from. I didn’t try to mark in it but I don’t think this would be a problem. There isn’t a lot of help for sermon or classroom prep, but it is a good Bible to use for the text portion of your study and prep-work.

Carry

This Bible much larger and heavier than I expected. I carried it almost every time we went somewhere. I had no trouble using it on the go, but it is on the large and heavy side and it always reminded me of that.

Preaching

I have mixed feelings about preaching from this Bible. On one hand the font is easy to read and the paper is easy to turn. It looks great under the lighting that we have. The references weren’t too difficult to see because the verse numbers are large enough to spot. It did take an extra second or two but it wasn’t bad. Where I had the most trouble was the width of the paragraphs. I stand with the Bible on the left side of the pulpit and my notes on the right. This places the Bible at a slight angle I had trouble knowing which line to read when I got back to the beginning of a line.

Conclusion

This Bible has been a joy to read. I’ve used it as my primary reading Bible for the past few weeks and it will continue to be my primary reading Bible for quite some time. My favorite features are the font and the paper. It is a little larger and heavier than I would have liked, but it’s not too heavy or too large. Its size is still manageable. I found it especially suited for reading and study. The Schuyler NKJV is the most elegant NKJV available.

The Schuyler NKJV is available in black, brown marble, imperial blue, and firebrick red.

Click here to buy: Schuyler NKJV

Comparisons

Here are a few comparisons between the Schuyler KJV, Cambridge Clarion NKJV, and Holman Large Print Ultrathin NKJV (the same text-block as the Allan)

The post Schuyler NKJV in Fire Brick Red – Review appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

Schuyler’s high-end line of Bibles, the Quentel, now has a new edition – the ESV. The Quentel was designed to be the most elegant Bible on the market. It’s one of those extremely rare cases (especially in modern day publishing) when elegance and beauty are placed above size and price. In this review I take a close look at its features and see if it lives up to the hype. The edition I’m reviewing is the Imperial Blue with blue under silver art-gilt edges and gold stamping on the spine.

Features

Click here to buy from EvangelicalBible: Schuyler ESV Quentel

Click here to visit the publishers’ website: Schuyler Bibles

Photography notes: photos were taken with two different cameras under several different lighting conditions in order to highlight various features. All photos are high-res, so you can click them to see it close up.

First Impressions

While holding the box it was shipped in, my first thought was that it didn’t really feel too heavy. On opening the box my first thought was it didn’t look too large. I actually expected it to be larger and heavier than it is. It is on the large side, but it’s no larger than an average study Bible and I’m used to carrying Bibles that size.

On opening the Bible I was immediately drawn to the paper and print. This paper, font, and layout is what I’ve been looking for in a Bible. I didn’t hear the creaky sound that I heard in the Schuyler KJV.

Cover and Binding

The cover on my review copy is Imperial Blue goatskin with a darker blue edge-lined liner that is stitched around the perimeter. The liner is also leather and has a gold gilt-line around the edges. I’m glad they included the gilt-line. It gives an extra flare that most publishers have gone away from.

The cover is soft and flexible, and the grain is pebbly and pronounced. I like the feel and flexibility of the leather. It is thick and feels perfect for the size of the Bible. The blue is gorgeous. Combined with a Smyth-sewn binding, it will lay open anywhere I want it to. The white head and tail bands blend well with the blue under silver art-gilt.

After using it for a while it does have a slight leather creaky sound, but I usually don’t hear it when I open it. It’s usually when I rub the cover against the end sheet inside or if I squeeze the spine. It’s not that loud and I actually like the sound.

This edition is unique in that it has gold stamping on the spine – just like all the other ESV Quentel’s – but instead of having a matching gold art-gilt edging, the art gilt is silver. Later editions will have silver stamping on the spine. I chose the blue because I knew it would look great even with the gold and silver. Now that I’ve seen it I’m glad it was made with gold stamping. I’m sure the silver will look great too, but I really like this gold on blue. I’d like to see it stay around.

Speaking of the spine, there are 6 embossed spinal ridges that separate out various sections. They look nice. I would like to see them raised just a touch for a more elegant look, but it might make the spine too rigid. It might be better the way it is. The spine curves outward when opened.

Paper

The paper is 38 gsm Tervakoski Thinopaque from Finland. It has an opacity rating of 84 ISO. What’s that mean in English? It’s very thick and you can’t see through it. I like thick paper. It’s extremely opaque. It looks and feels like the paper from a wide margin Cambridge. I always wanted a regular Bible with this paper. It not only looks amazing, but it’s also easy to turn. It has a slight off-white tint that looks great for reading. The paper is excellent for writing. It has a dull finish, which I prefer.

The art-gilting on the blue edition has blue under silver. This gives it a cool (as in temperature) look. It’s not distracting while reading and gives a soothing visual frame around the text. It’s consistent and looks great.

Print

The text is a black-letter 11-point Milo serif font with around a 12-point leading and line-matching. The spacing between the words looks natural. Some Bibles will have words that are too close together to get more on a line, and right-justification can make too much space between words giving them an annoying amount of spacing. This isn’t excessive in the Quentel. All of the spacing looks better balanced.

I really like this font. As I get older I’m moving toward larger fonts. This is the kind of font I can read for hours. It looks modern but it doesn’t look out of place in a Bible. It’s very crisp and easy to read for long periods of time. It has the right amount of boldness, which is dark but not burn your eyes dark. It’s comfortable. And of course it’s every bit as consistent in its print quality as I expected it to be. There are no print issues of any kind.

Chapter numbers are in a two-line drop-cap and they’re printed in a brick red. I love this red. It’s dark and makes the chapters stand out and it looks amazing. I love highlighted features like this because it keeps the pages from just being a sea of black text. The formatting for text also helps break up the verses so they don’t all run together. Psalm 119 uses this red for the Hebrew letters and names. This looks really nice. I would like to have seen this carried out for the other acrostic Psalms.

References and footnotes are keyed to the text with letters and numbers. I can read this text without having to look at every single footnote. Some Bibles are worse for that than others. I can’t read a Clarion or a Westminster without looking at the footnotes. I can ignore these, which for me is saying a lot.

Layout

I love the modern layout. It presents the text in double-column, paragraph format with translation notes under the last verse in the outer column, and references across the footer. Poetry is set to poetic verse (but never with a single word on a line), and Old Testament quotes are also in a poetic setting.

The columns are 2.375” wide and contain 35 characters. This is within the ideal. I’m glad this is a double-column layout as a single column the width of the page would be too wide for reading and preaching. The width of the columns means I don’t have to move my head from side to side while I read. Double-column is just easier with my bifocals.

The inner columns come away from the gutter by .5 inches. This brings the text out where you can see it without it wrapping into the gutter. This is especially important on a Bible this thick. The outer margin is .375”. I find it impressive that it has a larger inner margin than outer margin. This was an intentional design element to improve readability. Other publishers should take note of this. I’ll take a larger inner margin than outer margin every time.

I like that the references and notes are separate from the text. The notes are under the outer column and the references go across the page in the footer itself, separated by a red line. I also like that they’re separate from each other. I can read the text without having to look through references and notes, but when I do want them they’re easy to find. The closer the notes are to the text the easier they are to find and use, but being more conveniently located also makes them more of a distraction and makes the layout look too busy. Placing them in the footer helps with that a lot. I can read the text just as a text. I also like the notes under the outer column. It gives a symmetry that my eyes like to see. The page feels well-balanced and it looks great.

The two columns of just text make the best use of space. The text isn’t scrunched up to make room for a center or side column. There is enough room between the text and the footnotes that they don’t blend together.

The header shows the book names and chapter numbers that appear on that page and the page number. They’re printed in the same dark red highlight as the verse numbers.

The standard ESV section headings are in all caps. I would have liked for them to have been printed in the same red as the chapter numbers. Instead, they’re in black and they tend to blend with the text. That would have looked nice, but it might have been too distracting, so I understand why they didn’t. They chose to keep them the same color so they don’t become too much of a distraction. This is something that I can appreciate. The headings do have some breathing room away from the text, so that helps keep them set apart.

Books start on a new page. I wish all Bibles did this as this space is great for adding your own notes, lists, sermon outlines, etc. If you’re the kind that writes in your Bibles, it makes sense to use this space; especially considering how nice the paper is for writing.

Book names are small compared to the space given for them. This makes them really stand out. Some will like the amount of space available and use it to write information about the book, such as author, date, setting, key verse, and key points.

I love the look and feel of this page layout. It has the perfect balance between reading and study. It’s easy to read without distractions, and still easy to use the study tools. It is obvious the 2K/Denmark has put a lot of work into the design. Every design element was painstakingly and deliberately placed – from the width of the inner margin to the space between the words to the symmetry of the page to the tapering of the cross references; and it shows. There’s enough white space that the text never feels cramped. It’s been given the right amount of breathing room.

For more information about 2K/Denmark and the Quentel project, see the article Schuyler Quentel Reference Bible NASB by Andreas Krautwald, which is an interesting and fun read with insights into the Bible design world.

Cross References

Although I haven’t counted them to confirm, there are over 80,000 cross-references. They are the standard ESV references. They are keyed to the text with letters. They appear in the footer in Milo sanserif, which makes them match the font of the text, still lets them stand apart, and keeps them readable at their smaller size. The chapter and verse numbers are printed in brick red highlight. The font is very readable, making them actually usable rather than just there. If I had to guess the size of the font, I’d say it’s between 7-7.5, but keep in mind that is just a guess.

There are 18 references for Genesis 1:1 (counting a few passages that span multiple verses). John 1:1 has 15, and 1 John 1:1 has 10.

I like the quality of the content in the references. They give you useful information like pointing out where the verse is cited. I really like this.

Footnotes

These are the standard ESV footnotes, and like the cross-references they’re printed in Milo sanserif. The numbers are visually different from the verse numbers. I really appreciate this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve searched the margin of a Clarion trying to find the note only to realize that I was seeing the verse number. That’s not an issue with the Quentel. The numbers are easy to see and yet easy to ignore at the same time.

I love the detail of information in the footnotes. They include notes from Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Syriac, Masoretic Text, Vulgate, Septuagint, variant spellings of names and places (includes references), manuscript variants (including alternate renderings and omissions), etc. It also shows where a name is spelled differently somewhere else by giving you the reference and the alternate spelling (excellent for reducing confusion). Notes from the original languages show when a word could more than one meaning. It also shows if a Psalm is an acrostic. I like little details like this, especially since it doesn’t show up in English.

Concordance

The concordance is 63 pages. There are 3 columns per page. The text is smaller in the concordance. The entries are in red. The portions of the verses are black, and the references themselves are in red. Even the concordance has line-matching.

The font in the concordance is very small. I’m guessing it to be around 5-point. It’s almost a shock to your eyes to go from that large of a font in the text to that small of a font in the concordance. I wear bifocals and didn’t have any problems using the concordance. I understand why it’s so small, since a concordance is one of the least used features of a Bible, but when it is used it needs to be useful enough to find most of what you need. We only have two other options:

1. Make the font larger and remove some of the entries to keep the page-count the same.
2. Make the font larger, keep the same number of entries, and add pages.

I vote to keep the smaller font because I don’t want any entries removed and if there are any pages added I want them for notes.

The concordance helps make this an amazing Bible for study and sermon prep. With a Bible this size I can see how it would be tempting to leave the concordance out; especially in a time when there are so many other tools available for free online. I still know a lot of preachers that don’t have a computer or a smartphone. I always look at my physical Bible before searching on my phone. I am very glad that it was included. It means I can do more of my study just from this one Bible.

Here are a few entries that I looked up while I was studying with the Quentel. This includes the variations on the word and the numbers of entries is given in parenthesis:

• Bold (3), Boldly (3), Boldness (3)
• Faith (36), Faithful (12), Faithfulness (7), Faithless (2)
• God (56), Goddess (2), Godliness (6), Godly (4), Gods (4)
• Praise (11), Praised (4), Praises (3), Praising (4), Pray (13), Prayed (5), Prayer (11), Prayers (7), Praying (4)

It contains names such as Caiaphas, Gamaliel, Seth, and many other names that do not appear very often in Scripture. It also contains lots of common words, such as loss, made, prepare, prove, prize, restore, rebel, rend, same, and lots more.

This is a very detailed concordance, making this Bible a great tool for study without having to go to other tools. It is helpful for study and basic sermon and class prep.

Maps

The Quentel does not skimp on maps. There are 14 full color Oxford maps on 27 pages, plus a detailed 4-page index! I always want to see an index with the maps and this one knocks it out of the park. The index uses the same font as the concordance. The maps and the index are printed on thick paper that isn’t shiny (another plus in my book). These are some of the nicest maps I’ve seen in a reference Bible.

Here’s the full list of maps:

• Jerusalem in the First Millennium BCE
• Jerusalem in the Late Second Temple Period
• The Land of Canaan
• The Setting of the Exodus and Wilderness Traditions
• The Setting of the Narratives of Joshua, the Judges, Samuel, and Saul
• The Setting of the Narratives of David and Solomon
• The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
• The Assyrian Empire
• The Persian Empire
• Judah/Yehud/Judea and Neighboring Regions in the Persian and Hellenistic Periods
• The Empire of Alexander and His Successors
• Kingdom of Herod and His Successors
• Judea and Its Neighbors in the 1st Century CE
• Places Mentioned in the NT
• The Roman Empire
• The Setting of Early Christian Missions

Ribbons

There are 3 Berisford navy ribbons. These ribbons are some of the most elegant ribbons I’ve seen in a Bible. They’re wide, which I prefer, and the feel silky to the touch. They’re very long – enough to pull them to the corner and still have plenty of material to hold on to. The navy blue looks amazing against the blue cover and blue under silver art-gilting. The ribbons naturally angle toward the bottom outer corner of the page.

3 ribbons are amazing, but I got spoiled with having 4 ribbons in the Schuyler KJV, so now I always hope for 4 ribbons. I can live with 3, but 4 is better. I would also like for each one to be a different shade of blue.

Using the Schuyler ESV Quentel

Carry

This is a large and heavy Bible. If you’re used to carrying around something the size of a study Bible then carrying this one will be fine because it is no different. I’m used to carrying wide margin editions, so I have no issues with carrying it to Church. On shorter trips I like carrying smaller, hand-sized Bibles, but I had no issues carrying it.

Reading

Reading from this is amazing. The layout, print quality, line-matching, and opacity of the paper make for a fun reading experience. It lays open on its own with no trouble. Due to its size, I did most of my reading with the Quentel either sitting in my lap or on the table, although I did hold it in my hands and read while walking around. This Bible makes me want to read it. When I did hold it I noticed that I used both hands most of the time. This had as much to do with size as it did weight. That’s typical for me for a Bible this size.

Study

With the extensive cross-references, translation notes, concordance, and maps, there are a lot of tools to do your own study. These are the types of tools that I prefer (rather than commentary). These resources make it a good Bible for personal study and sermon prep.

Highlighting

The 38gsm paper feels just like the paper found in Cambridge wide margin Bibles. This means it’s writable. There is a little bit of space in the margins (3/8”) if you want to write something. You can also write in the blank space at the end of books. I haven’t written in it, but I would think I could use my Pigma Microns and PrismaColor pencils on this paper with no trouble.

Tips on Marking

If you do decide to mark in your Schuyler ESV Quentel, I recommend using Pigma Micron markers and PrismaColor pencils. These are my favorite marking tools. Of course you can use dry highlighters as well. Just make sure you buy highlighters that are made for writing in Bibles. Always test your pens, pencils, and highlighters out on a lesser important page before marking within the Biblical text to make sure they won’t case problems in your Bible.

One way you can use color is to develop your own color code. Here’s an example of a color code for topical study:

• Purple – God
• Red – Salvation
• Green – Personal Growth
• Blue – Second Coming
• Yellow – Promises

For the actual marking, you could underline the verse and highlight over the keywords (this is my current method using a color code with 20 colors). Other options are to highlight over the verse, underline the verse, draw a box around the verse, draw a line down the side of the verse, or just draw a box in the margin and use colors to indicate what you want them to be.

Whichever method you use, I recommend using one of the thick pages in the front to create a key to your markings. This way you or someone else can pick up your Bible and know what all the colors and symbols represent.

Preaching

It fits on the pulpit perfectly. The font is easy to read from by glancing down instead of having to hold the Bible close to my eyes. The pages are easy to turn. Verses are fairly easy to find due to the size of the verse numbers. Verses in paragraph format always takes me longer to find, but these were faster than most. The range of chapters are shown in the page corners. These help in finding the verses, but I usually like to have the verses included along with the chapters. My guess is they wanted to keep it as clean as possible – and it does look clean and neat.

This is a great preaching Bible and it looks at home on the pulpit. If you like to carry your Bible while you preach or teach from it, just imagine doing this with a 3lb study Bible and you’ll have an idea if this one would work for you. You can use the blank portion at the end of books for sermon outlines, lists, points, etc. Since this is such an amazing pulpit Bible, I would love to see a few more pages in the back for notes. Even better – place them between the testaments.

Teaching

Teaching is often a lot like giving a presentation in Powerpoint. It helps to have images, notes, bullet-points, and keywords. Study Bibles and wide margin Bibles can be great for this. The Quentel doesn’t have much margin space, but you can use color-coding and the empty space at the end of books. There is enough margin space to write a symbol or small reference if you need to create a chain. I mostly use other materials for teaching from, such as pamphlets and notebooks, and just use the Quentel to read the Scriptures from. For that the Quentel is excellent. The Quentel is excellent for developing the Scripture portion of the teaching materials due to the vast number of references, footnotes, concordance, and maps.

Conclusion

The goal of the Schuyler Quentel was to place elegance and beauty above size and price, and in the Quentel this really shows. The Schuyler ESV Quentel lives up to my expectations for a premium Bible. Everything about this Bible shines. It is crisp, clean, sharp, and a joy to read. It makes me want to pick it up and spend the day with it. I love reading it and studying from it. My favorite attributes are the paper, print, and layout. If I could change one thing I would like four ribbons that are different colors. If I could add anything it would be a few pages for notes.

This is an expensive Bible, but it’s not just expensive for the sake of being expensive. Every aspect of the Quentel is made to give you the best reading experience. The paper and print alone make me want to read it. The tools ensure that I will get a great study and sermon prep experience. The cover and binding will ensure that it lasts me a lifetime. I’m drawn to it. It makes me want to pick it up and read it. Every reading experience should be this good. It is well-designed and well-made.

If you’re looking for a large print premium ESV, the Schuyler ESV Quentel is my number one choice. I can’t think of a single disappointment with this Bible. Now I can’t wait for the NKJV and KJV editions to be produced. I will be buying them both when they’re released and the KJV edition will be “my” Bible.

Bottom Line

The Schuyler ESV Quentel is a luxury edition that places quality above price, and its elegant design and quality materials make it worth every penny.

Comparisons

Here are some comparison photos. From the bottom up: ESV Study Bible, Schuyler ESV Quentel, Schuyler NKJV, Schuyler KJV, and ESV Cambridge Clarion. The comparisons are in that order.

Click here to buy from EvangelicalBible: Schuyler ESV Quentel

Click here to visit the publishers’ website: Schuyler Bibles

Schuyler Bibles provided this review copy for free for this review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review. My opinions are my own.

Now it’s your turn. Do you have a Schuyler ESV Quentel? Was your experience similar to mine? Do you have anything to add? I’d like to hear about it in the comments below!

The post Schuyler ESV Quentel Bible – Review appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

My favorite KJV reference Bible is the Westminster. The TBS edition of the Westminster is one of the only two Bibles that my wife claimed before I could see them. She carries the TBS edition in calf skin and I carry both the TBS in hard cover and the Schuyler edition in goatskin. Both are outstanding Bibles. I’ve written detailed reviews of each edition. Here are some of the reasons I like it and a quick look at how I use it.

Reviews

For more detail on each edition, see my reviews:

• TBS Calf skin
• Schuyler goatskin
• Hard cover

Cross References

The Westminster has the most references of any Bible that I’m aware of at 200,000. Here are some samples:

• Genesis 1:1 – Ps 33:6, 9; 136:5, Jn 1:1-3; Col 1:16, 17; He 1:8-10; 11:3
• Matthew 17:20 – ch 13:58; 6:30, v 17; He 3:19; Lu 17:6; ch 13:31; 21:21; Mar 11:23; 1 Co 13:2; v 9; ch 21:22; Mar 9:23
• Mark 11:23 – Mat 17:23; 21:21; Lu 17:6; Ja 1:5, 6; Rom 14:19, 20; 1 Cor 13:2
• John 1:1 – Ge 1:1; Ps 2:7; Pr 8:22-31; Col 1:16, 17; Rev 1:2, 9; 19:11, 13, 16, 1 Jn 1:1, 2; 5:7; Heb 1:3; 4:12; ch 3:34; v 14; Lu 1:2; Ac 20:32; 2 Pe 3:5; Pr 8:30; ch 17:5; Zec 13:7; ch 10:30, 33; Phil 2:6; He 1:3, 8-13; 1 Jn 5:7, 20; Tit 2:13; Rom 9:5; Isa 9:6
• 1 John 1:1 – Pr 8:23; Mi 5:2; Jn 1:1, 2; Re 1:8; Is 41:4; 44:6; 2 Pe 1:16, 18; Mat 3:16, 17; Lu 24:39; Re 1:2; Jn 1:1, 4, 14; 5:26; ch 5:7; Re 19:13

The references don’t just follow specific words. They also follow concepts. Every OT quote is referenced.

Marginal Glossary

Many words in the KJV have either gone out of use or changed meaning over the years. Several Bibles have glossaries in the back (Thompson Chain Reference, Windsor, and Concord). If it’s a word I don’t know then I’ll look it up. The problem is when a word has changed meaning I don’t know that I don’t know what it means. For example, describe means to mark out. De-scribe, as in un-mark. Another example is the word prevent. I know what prevent means, so why would I bother to look in a glossary? Well, in the KJV it actually doesn’t mean what I thought it meant. It means to go before. It’s a pre-event.

The reason I know these words is the Westminster places an asterisks on them and then gives the meaning in the margin next to the verse. This helps in another way too… I don’t have to turn to the back to look them up because they’re right there on the page where I need them. This is a great help for preaching and teaching. When I’m reading a verse I can look in the margin if I feel the need to explain a word.

Here are a few examples:

• Psa 5:6 – those that speak *leasing – *leasing – lying, falsehood
• Ac 17:27 – if *haply – *haply – perhaps
• Ac 28:13 – *fetched a compass – went round, turned round

I don’t need all of the notes, for example it has Spirit for Ghost, but there are a lot that I never knew to look up because I thought I knew what the word meant.

Concordance

The concordance has a lot of entries. For me the concordance is difficult to use. The concordance has a unique layout to the text when compared to most concordances. Instead on placing each verse on a new line, they’re combined together like paragraphs. That’s not the hard part. There are references before and after the verses. For me it’s difficult to figure out which reference goes with which portion of text.

This concordance is actually the one from the Cambridge Concord. TBS improved on it and shared their improvements with Cambridge (Cambridge and TBS do a lot to help each other. I love that synergy between publishers).

Here are some example references:

• Faith – 54
• Faithful – 27
• Faithfully – 3
• Faithfulness – 4
• God – 76
• Goddess – 3
• Godhead – 3
• Godliness – 4
• Godly – 2
• God-ward – 3
• Praise (n) – 11
• Praise (v) – 14
• Pray – 54
• Prayer – 22

There’re plenty enough entries and references to help in study.

Reading Plan

It includes the M’Cheyne 2-year reading plan. We use this as a 1-year plan. This takes us through the OT once, and the NT, Psa, and Prov twice. There are four of us and it has 4 readings per day, so this works out perfectly for my family.

Overall Size

At 8.5 x 6 x 1.5, the size of the Westminster is in my sweet-spot for carry and holding.

Reading

I love the sharpness of the font. I would like to see a little bolder font. I also like that it’s clean. There are no pronunciation marks within the text. If you want to see how to pronounce a name you can go to the back and see the name list. The updated words in the margins help a lot to improve understanding.

The goatskin can be a little difficult to hold when I have a lap and arm full of cats. I’m also worried they’re going to do something stupid and ruin my Schuyler. For this very reason (and because I didn’t want to write in the Schuyler) I bought the hard cover edition. It lays open in one hand with no trouble at all.

Preaching

The size of this Bible is perfect for any pulpit while still giving you enough room for notes. I find the font large enough to read without having to hold it close or bend down to get close to the page. Larger fonts are easier for me though. I can’t see the footnotes from that distance. The column width isn’t too wide. I don’t have any issues figuring out which line to read next.

Study

With 200,000 cross references, the Westminster is excellent for study. I rarely need any other references. The updated words and concordance help too. It’s great for study, sermon prep, and class prep.

If I Could Change One Thing

I met Paul Roland, the CEO of Trinitarian Bible Society, in Orlando Florida at the International Christian Retail Show. I could have talked to him all day. We have the same tastes in Bibles and I love his passion for the printed Word. He’s a very interesting and kind man and I hope to see him again in Cincinnati for 2016’s show. In our discussion about the Westminster he asked how I would improve it. That’s a hard question to answer. Any change would change its physics. I love the size and weight. A large font would be nice, but I also want this font. More tools, such as a topical index, would be nice but I also want this same thickness. The only change that would help me would be a bolder font, but that would change the opacity of the paper.

Conclusion

These tools, size, and print make the Westminster my favorite reference KJV. I love that there are choices in covers – hard cover, calf skin, and goatskin. These three cover every price range. It’s easy to recommend the Westminster for carry, reading, study, preaching, and teaching.

Schuyler Bibles provided this Bible for review for free. I was not required to give a positive review.

The post Using the Westminster Reference Bible appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

The Schuyler NKJV Quentel, arriving sometime in February or March, is now available for pre-order. Each edition of the Quentel makes improvements on the last. This one will include the expected typography but will add a red-letter option, raised spine hubs, and new maps. It will also have thinner paper, but at 36gsm it should still be very thick for Bible standards. The red letter looks a lot like the earth-tone red used for the chapter numbers. It’s available in goatskin with a leather liner and in several colors including black, dark green, dark brown, imperial blue, and firebrick red.

Maps

The maps look interesting. They were designed and produced by Barry Beitzel and include information that’s not typically found in Bible maps. The examples Schuyler gives include:

• where and when Paul wrote certain NT books
• the spread of Christianity
• map of Acts

Maps include:

1. World of the Patriarchs

2. Israel’s Twelve Tribe Allotments

3. Route of the Exodus

4. Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon

5. Divided Kingdom

Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah (Chart)

6. Assyrian and Babylonian Empires

7. Persian and Greek Empires

8. Ministry of Jesus

9. Jerusalem and the Passion of Jesus

10. Apostles’ Early Ministry

11. Missionary Journeys of Paul

12. Roman Empire & Spread of Christianity

These maps will be used in future Bibles from Schuyler. This is my favorite colors for maps. They look promising.

My Thoughts

I like that they’re using lighter paper. Maybe that will help bring the size and weight down and it should still be opaque and thick enough to turn the pages easily. I also like the leather liner. That should allow the cover to open flatter. The NKJV is extremely high on my list of Bible translations, but it’s sadly lacking high-quality choices. This Schuyler will fix that. With it’s new features I think this will be the best Quentel yet.

You can order it from EvangelicalBible.com

To see the BBG ESV review click here.

Images from EvangelicalBible.com

The post Schuyler NKJV Quentel is Available for Pre-order appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

The New King James Version has always held a special place in my heart. My very first review Bible I ever received was a hard cover NKJV in 1984 and I’ve been in love with the translation ever since. Even though it’s a popular translation it hasn’t gotten a lot of quality editions. Schuyler fixes this problem with their NKJV Quentel. In this review I take a look at the NKJV Quentel in black goatskin. Like all Schuyler’s it comes in a nice box for storage (all of mine stay in their boxes).

Schuyler’s Quentel Series

Schuyler’s Quentel is a series of premium Bibles that follow a specific design standard:

• Goatskin leather
• Sewn binding
• 11-point Milo font
• 36gsm or above paper
• 3 elegant ribbons
• 2K/Denmark design
• Jongbloed construction

Schuyler refines the Quentel with every edition. I believe the NKJV is the best one yet. I can sum up Schuyler’s flagship line of Bibles in one word: elegant.

Binding

The cover is a natural grain goatskin that’s soft and pliable. The liner is actually edge-lined calfskin. It has a gold gilt-line on the inside of the cover that gives it an extra feel of elegance. It’s far more flexible than my first edition ESV Quentel but still retains its strength. It might take a few days for the cover to lay open in Genesis 1. With Schuyler’s hinge design you won’t have a Bible that splits with use. This thing is built to last and I have no doubts that it will. It’s Smyth sewn and lies flat easily.

The cover is stitched around the perimeter and has a .35” yapp hanging over the page edges. It feels great in the hand. Unlike previous Quentels this one has raised spine ribs. They look amazing and give the spine an elegance that’s been missing in the other editions. The spine also has gold stamping that includes the Jerusalem Cross. The Jerusalem Cross is dry stamped onto the front of the cover.

It weighs just under 3lbs at 2lbs and 15 oz. It’s .15” thinner than my first generation ESV Quentel. The textblock is 1.3” thick and noticeably square with a 6.125 x 9.125 trim size.

Other features include three navy ribbons that are almost .4” wide and page edges with red under gold art-gilt. Both add to the beauty of this edition and look great against the black goatskin.

Paper

For me, paper is the single most important physical aspect of a Bible. I would rather have okay print on awesome paper and awesome print on okay paper. The paper makes the print easier to read and I need thick pages to turn. The NKJV Quentel delivers on all accounts.

If you want some technical specs, the paper is 36gsm (24lb) with an opacity rating of 83% (only 1% less than the 38gsm ESV Quentel), a brightness of 86%, and bulk is 1.1 cm^3. All of this means the paper is very thick for a Bible and is extremely opaque. This is the kind of paper you can write on and highlight if you want. It has a slight cream tone that sets the perfect contrast for reading. To my eye it looks creamier than the 38gsm ESV. I prefer the look of this 36gsm paper to the 38. It feels thick enough to turn easily but not so thick that it makes the Bible too large to manage. I’ve had no issues with reading or turning pages. It draws me in and makes me want to read it.

Typography

The text is presented in double-column paragraph format with poetry set in stanzas, letters indented, and section headings throughout the text. The NKJV in general has one of the best layouts of any translation (imo). It has more NT verses set in poetic format than most popular translations. Also, I love how it places letters (like in Ezra) in indented format setting them apart from the rest of the text. I would LOVE to see a KJV in this exact layout.

The font is 11-point Milo with a leading close to 12 pt. I chose the red-letter edition because it’s hard to find red-letter done right and I knew that Schuyler would not disappoint. The red is medium-dark and easy to read. The red goes all the way through Revelation (like all red letter should imo). I love this red! The black letter is medium-dark and consistent throughout.

The verse numbers stand out just enough to find verses easily. I usually have trouble finding verses in paragraph format but I haven’t had any problems finding verses with the NKJV Quentel. The cross-reference and footnote keys are much smaller compared to the font size than most Bibles. I personally appreciate this because they don’t get in the way of my reading. Bibles that have larger keys are harder to read and make me stumble as I’m reading aloud. A feature I found interesting is the chapter numbers. When the verse is black-letter the chapter numbers are red, but when the verse is red-letter the chapter numbers are black.

The almost .5” margins bring the text out of the gutter making the inner column easier to read. This is especially important for preaching when you need to see all of the text as you glance down to the pulpit. The columns are 2 3/8” wide and have around 36-38 characters across giving a line word-count around 7 or 8 on average. The text never feels crowded or never has too much space between the words.

The header includes chapter and verse numbers and the page number. Each are in red-letter, allowing them to stand apart from the text.

Double-Column vs Single-Column

It is easier to make a prettier layout with a single-column. This has to do with how many characters you can get on a line for poetic settings or any other topic that you want to set apart such as letters, quotes, etc. With that said, I find it easier to read double-column settings. I wear bi-focals and I find most single-column settings to be too wide. With double-column settings I don’t have to turn my head to see all of the text within my viewing angle.

It’s a challenge to make a double-column setting look as good as a single-column setting, especially in poetic settings. Most double-column poetic settings end up having a single word on a line and the text is broken up so much that it breaks the poetic feel. 2K/Denmark’s Quentel design solves that problem completely by paying closer attention to poetic line-breaks. It will take two lines to do what you can do with one line in a single column, but they don’t have lines with a single word. The lines are divided carefully to keep the thoughts together and the result is a beautiful poetic setting.

Red-Letter vs Black-Letter

I’ve noticed that some translations have more of a following for red-letter than others. The NASB and ESV Quentels are black-letter only and I didn’t hear a lot of complaints about it, but for the NKJV Quentel I’ve received a lot of comments from readers that are glad they will be available in red-letter as well as black-letter. The NKJV in particular is almost expected to be available in red-letter. It seems to follow the translations. I am glad that Schuyler has listened to their customers and have provided both options for the NKJV. It adds to the expense of production to have both, so this was an expensive project and wasn’t an easy choice to make. I love a good quality red letter and this red-letter delivers. Whether you prefer black or red letter, Schuyler delivers. Thank you Schuyler for giving us choices! #SchuylerRedLetter

References

The standard NKJV cross-references are here and there are more than 60,000 of them. References are placed in the footer in a single column with the standard Quentel tapered design, meaning the lines are shorter as they get closer to the bottom of the page. This time around the taper is more prominent. This is an interesting design feature that helps ground the page. The references are keyed to the text with letters. The chapter and verse numbers printed in red so they’re easy to find.

Here are some examples:

Genesis 1:1 – Ps 102:25; Is 40:21; Jn 1:1-3; Heb 1:10; Gen 2:4; Ps 8:3; 89:11; 90:2; Is 44:24; Ac 17:24; Rom 1:20; Heb 1:2; 11:3; Rev 4:11

Matthew 17:20 – Mat 21:21; Mk 11:23; Lk 17:6; 1 Cor 12:9

Mark 11:23 – Mt 17:20; 21:21; Lk 17:6

John 1:1 – Gen 1:1; Col 1:17; 1 Jn 1:1; Jn 1:14; Rev 19:13; Jn 17:5; 1 Jn 1:2; 5:20

1 John 1:1 – Jn 1:1; 1 Jn 2:13, 14; Lk 1:2; Jn 1:14; 2 Pet 1:16; Lk 24:39; Jn 20:27; Jn 1:1; 4; 14

Footnotes

Footnotes are placed symmetrically on both pages. On the right page they’re placed under the last verse in the right column, and on the left page they’re placed under the last verse of the left column. They have a 7-point font and are keyed to the text with numbers.

The NKJV footnotes are my favorite among the translations I use. They include manuscript variations (with each manuscript identified), alternate renderings, notes on the original languages, measurements, values, alternate names, etc.

Concordance

The concordance is the NKJV supplied by Thomas Nelson. It has 57 pages with three columns per page. This has to be the prettiest concordance I’ve seen in a Bible. The entries and verses are red while the portions of Scripture are black. It has plenty of white-space if you want to add more entries (if you need to). Just like the ESV edition the text is very small compared to the rest of the Bible. If I would make one change in this Bible it would be to increase the font-size in the concordance to take up the whitespace. I don’t have any issues using it with my glasses, but I can see how some would have issues with it.

Here are a few examples with the numbers of entries for each one:

• Christ – 13
• Christian – 1
• Christians – 1
• Christs – 1
• Faith – 40
• Faithful – 20
• Faithfulness – 5
• Faithless – 2
• God – 38
• Goddess – 2
• Godhead – 2
• Godliness – 4
• Godly – 3
• Gods – 5
• Praise – 25
• Praised – 4
• Praises – 2
• Praiseworthy – 1
• Praising – 3
• Pray – 14
• Prayed – 2
• Prayer – 16
• Prayers – 5

Maps

One of the items that I’ve been the most excited about is the new Schuyler maps. Schuyler has worked with Dr. Barry J. Beitzel, the editor of the Moody Bible Atlas, to create a new set of maps that use high resolution images to show relief. The result is 12 beautiful maps that are a great resource for study. The maps include color-codes to show nations, 3D topography, routes, cities, capitals, distance keys, special sites, and Scripture references along with explanations of events. There’s also a chart within the maps that lists the Kings of Judah and Israel along with their contemporary prophets.

They’re printed on 60 GSM Primapage non-glossy paper, which is my personal favorite way of printing maps. I love the earth-tone colors as well as the overall look and design. These are my favorite maps in any Bible. I’m glad to hear they will be used in all upcoming Schuyler Bibles and in new printings of existing editions.

The maps include:

1. World of the Patriarchs
2. Israel’s Twelve Tribe Allotments
3. Route of the Exodus
4. Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon
5. Divided Kingdom
   1. Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah (chart)
6. Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
7. Persian and Greek Empires
8. Ministry of Jesus
9. Jerusalem and the Passion of the Christ
10. Apostles’ Early Ministry
11. Missionary Journeys of Paul
12. Roman Empire and Early Christianity

There’s also a 3-page index to maps. I’m glad to see the index included. I think all Bibles should have an index to maps.

Using the Schuyler NKJV Quentel

I used the NKJV Quentel extensively since receiving my review copy. Here are some of the ways I used it and my thoughts about each one.

Carry

Even though the NKJV edition is thinner than the ESV, this is still a large Bible. It feels like a regular sized study Bible. If you’re used to carrying a study Bible then you won’t have issues carrying this one. I didn’t have any issues carrying it everywhere I went. It is large, but for me it isn’t too large.

Reading

This is an easy text to read. I love laying it in my lap or holding it (I don’t wrap the cover when I read. I prefer to have both pages viewable) in my hand. I can hold it open in one hand. The font style, size, smaller reference and footnote keys that are easy to ignore when I want to, boldness of the text, and opacity and color of the paper create a perfect balance for reading. The tools don’t get in the way. It’s simply a joy to read.

Study

All the standard NKJV tools are here to help you do your own study (my favorite type of study) and Schuyler adds their own maps with an index.

• Cross references
• Footnotes
• Section headings
• Concordance
• Maps with index

While the tools don’t get in the way for reading they’re still located on the page where I want them and they’re easy to use.

Preaching

This is an excellent preaching Bible for those who leave the Bible on the pulpit or for those that don’t mind walking around with something the size and weight of a study Bible. I’m in that first category, so I had no problems preaching from it. It lays open on the pulpit and is easy to read from (thanks to the paper, print, and layout design including the wider inner margin) while preaching without having to get too close to the text. The section headings help to describe the context but they don’t stand out so much that they become distracting. The thick pages are easy to turn.

Writing

The 36gsm paper is excellent for writing. I don’t know if I will write in it, but for some excellent info on what pens and markers to use and to see them compared take a look at Mark Bertrand’s review at the Bible Design Blog. If I decide to write in it I might use PrismaColor pencils to color-code, Pigma Micron markers for underlining or drawing symbols in the margins, or possibly another type of highlighter.

Conclusion

If there ever was a Bible that would be my perfect Bible it could be this one. The paper and print are easy to read for long periods of time and the tools are great for study. The leather lining, spin ribs, and goatskin cover feel both elegant and durable. Schuyler has raised the bar yet again and this is no doubt the best NKJV in print. The Schuyler NKJV Quentel can easily be your one and only Bible. I’ll be using this Bible for many years to come.

Schuyler Publishing provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest review. My opinions are my own.

The post Schuyler’s NKJV Quentel – Bible Review appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

From the top – Cambridge Clarion, Holman Large Print Ultra Thin, Schuyler Single Column, Schuyler Quentel, Schuyler Quentel ESV, Cambridge Wide Margin

The Schuyler NKJV Quentel is one of the few high quality NKJV’s available. It’s a premium edition produced by Jongbloed in the Netherlands to the highest standards. The NKJV Quentel boasts 36gsm paper, art-gilt edges, 11-point font, red-letter, goatskin cover with edge-lined real leather liner, spine ridges, 3 luxurious ribbons, 12 new maps by Dr. Barry J. Beitzel, index to maps, cross references in the footer, NKJV footnotes and section headings, and a large concordance. It’s available in both red and black letter and in several covers including black, dark green, dark brown, imperial blue, and firebrick red.

Price: $222.00 | Buy from Evangelical Bible

In all of these comparisons the NKJV Quentel is on the left.

Schuyler ESV Quentel

This is the first generation ESV Quentel. The color of the paper is slightly different between the two. The NKJV has a slightly more cream tone which I prefer to the white of the 38gsm in the first edition ESV. The NKJV is slightly thinner, has a leather lining, and spine hubs. The ESV is black letter.

Holman Large Print Ultra Thin

The Holman Large Print Ultra Thin NKJV is verse by verse with poetry in stanzas and letters indented, has a 9-point font, red-letter, thinner paper, and a thinner text block. It’s a semi-premium Bible that’s a great choice for someone on a budget or looking for something smaller and lighter than the Quentel. However, the typeset is smaller and feels more cramped.

Cambridge Clarion

The Cambridge NKJV Clarion is a hand-size edition in single column with much thinner paper and a smaller black-letter font at 8.75. It’s a great choice for something that easy to carry. The thin pages will have page-curl issues if the airflow is right. I love the Clarion for private reading but for preaching I have trouble finding verse numbers and sometimes I read the wrong line due to the wider column that bends into the gutter. I might give the Clarion the advantage in the poetic settings because of the single column. Although, because of the attention to detail the Quentel has a beautiful double-column poetic setting.

Cambridge Wide Margin

The Cambridge NKJV Wide Margin is wider but is thinner and has a smaller red-letter font at 7.9. Its 38gsm paper is made for writing. They’re comparable in overall size and weight but the Cambridge has to sacrifice font size for margin space, making the Quentel far more readable.

Schuyler Single Column NKJV

The Schuyler Single Column NKJV is of course a single column setting. It doesn’t have cross references and it only has a single heading at the beginning of each chapter. It has a 10.5 black-letter font and 32gsm paper. It’s a great choice if you want a single-column setting in large print. It even has a little bit of margin space. As much as I like it, if I could only choose one it would be the Quentel for its elegant setting and tools.

Thoughts

Overall the Schuyler NKJV Quentel is a well-designed Bible that fills a much-needed gap for the NKJV translation. There are only a few good choices available and with its paper, print, and cover, the Quentel stands alone in providing a luxury reference edition in large print.

Price: $222.00 | Buy from Evangelical Bible

How do you think the NKJV Quentel compares?

The post Schuyler NKJV Quentel Comparisons appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

The Schuyler Canterbury KJV is now at the printers and pre-orders will start soon after Labor Day (September 5th). The leather over board edition will be black with gold foil embossing, art-gilt edges, and will release a few months after the goatskin and calfskin editions. The Canterbury will have a darker art-gilting than the Quentel series. It will use the same 11-point Milo font and 36gsm paper.

You can see more information at EvangelicalBible.com’s Canterbury page: Schuyler Canterbury

Here’s a quick look inside:

The post Canterbury Update appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

Schuyler’s Canterbury KJV is available for pre-order with special pre-order pricing. It’s available in goatskin and calfskin and in several colors. It’s expected to ship in late December.

The Canterbury uses the same 11-point Milo font and 36gsm paper as the NKJV Quentel that I reviewed previously. It will have a verse-by-verse format with Psalms in single column.

You can pre-order here: Pre-Order Schuyler Canterbury KJV.

The post The Schuyler Canterbury is Available for Pre-order appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

Schuyler Bible’s first KJV was their own production of the TBS Westminster. The Canterbury is Schuyler’s first originally designed King James Version. It follows a similar pattern of their Quentel series but has a few design features that are unique in modern Bible publishing, creating a unique blend of old and new.

The design of the Canterbury makes me think of modern retro cars. Cars like the Mustang and Challenger are patterned after the classic designs but they have modern refinements. The Canterbury is patterned after the KJV’s of old, but with modern fonts and paper, making it feel like a new version of the old.

• The name Canterbury was chosen because the name goes back to the olden times to match the old style of the KJV. It’s meant to evoke that old time period.

Pros

• Beautiful Milo font
• 36gsm paper
• Psalms in single column
• Ornamental drop-caps
• Lots of section headings

Cons

• No translator’s footnotes
• Cross references and concordance feels light when compared to the Quentel series

Features

• KJV
• Sewn binding
• Calfskin cover
• 11 point font
• Double column format with Psalms in single column
• 36gsm paper
• Ornamental drop-caps
• Epistle Dedicatory
• Translators to the Reader
• Glossary
• 3 ribbons
• Concordance
• 12 maps with index
• Page size 9.125 x 6.125″
• Overall size 9.8 x 6.75 x 1.625”
• Elegant gift box
• Layout designed by 2K/Denmark
• Printed and bound in the Netherlands by Jongbloed

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Binding

The Canterbury is available in several covers and styles:

• Goatskin (edge-lined leather): Black, Dark Brown, Dark Purple, Firebrick Red, Imperial Blue
• Calfskin (paste-down): Black, Dark Brown, Dark Red, Forest Green
• Leather over Board (coming soon)

I chose the black calfskin. I considered the brown and the red, but eventually the black won me over. I chose calfskin because I’m partial to stiffer covers. I find them easier to hold in one hand to read. I don’t roll my Bibles like a newspaper. Instead I prefer to hold them open and see both pages. I also like how paste-down liners lay open and flat. Being half the price doesn’t hurt either and it’s still a Smyth sewn premium Bible.

I’m not disappointed by getting the calfskin over the goatskin. It’s soft to the touch and has a matte finish. The grain is pronounced and looks pebbly. It looks similar to the calfsplit leather used by Cambridge but it’s a lot softer to the touch. It even has perimeter stitching even though it has a paste-down liner. I find it much easier to handle while reading.

The cover lays open more naturally than just about any Bible I’ve reviewed. There isn’t a tab in the liner to keep the first few pages from lying completely flat. It lays flatter than my goatskin Quentels.

The Jerusalem Cross is debossed into the front of the cover. The spine has Holy Bible, King James Version, the Jerusalem Cross, and Schuyler in gold. It has 6 raised hubs, giving it an elegant look.

Paper

The paper is 36gsm. It’s smooth to the touch and has a slight cream color with no glare. It’s highly opaque and a joy to read and touch. Even the red doesn’t show through enough to matter. If you like highlighting you’ll love this paper. It’s thick enough that I had no issues turning pages. It has 11 lined pages in the back for notes that use the same paper as the rest of the text.

The art-gilt edges darker than any other Bibles that I’ve seen from Schuyler. To my eye they look burnt orange (which happens to be one of my favorite colors).

I’ve seen some page curl maybe twice, but in the winter months in TN it’s harder to find a Bible without page curl than one with it. This won’t be an issue in the warmer months and isn’t that bad. Most days there isn’t any page-curl.

Typography

The text is presented in double column verse-by-verse format with Psalms in single column. It doesn’t have poetic settings but it does have Psalms in single column. All highlights are in a bold red. The header includes the page numbers in the inner margin and the book name and chapter numbers in the outer margin. Cross references are placed in the footer. I like that cross references are placed in the footer because the text doesn’t have to share horizontal space with anything. This allows for a larger font and a cleaner design.

The font is the same 11-point Milo font as the Quentel series. It’s black letter and line-matched so the lines on both sides of the page are printed in the same place on the page, which greatly improves readability. It has the same comfortable leading as the Quentel. To my eye the font and paper have the perfect contrast. The Concord can sometimes look too bold and the Westminster can sometimes look too light. The Canterbury’s typeface has the right amount of weight for the perfect boldness.

It has italics for supplied words and simplified pronunciation marks which break down the syllables and places a stress mark over the prominent syllable. There are more than I personally need but at least they don’t include Jesus and other common names in the New Testament. For me these are more useful for preaching than personal reading. References are keyed to the text with letters. The letters are small enough to be easy to ignore but still readable at the same time.

I love the ornamental drop-caps. The red looks outstanding. I call them Canterberries (I know. I thought it and now I can’t unthink it. Sorry). They’re the first letter from the first word of a chapter. They’re printed in red with flowers, leaves, and vines. The ornamental drop-caps take 5 lines everywhere with the exception of Psalms which takes 4 lines. They’re the LTC Goudy Initials fonts.

The columns are 2 3/8” wide with around 38 characters and 6-8 words. The words are spaced apart comfortably without any words too close together or too much space between them. Most pages have around 45 lines, although this does change depending on the number of cross references in the footer. The outer margin is ½”. The inner margin is a touch wider than the outer margin by enough to bring the text out of the gutter. The text never gets lost in the bend. Books start on a new page, leaving room for notes.

Can Double Column Verse by Verse Still be Relevant?

When it came time to produce a KJV, Schuyler decided to break from their Quentel design of paragraph editions and go back to the old verse-by-verse design. I have personally moved on to paragraph editions with a focus on readability and context. I’ve always considered the paragraph design, along with modern punctuation, to be ideal. With that in mind, is the Canterbury still relevant? In my opinion it is.

I do believe single column paragraph with translators’ footnotes and no numbers within the text is the ideal design for comprehension, but that design doesn’t fit every purpose. We still need editions with verse numbers, chapter numbers, two columns, and even verse-by-verse. Here are a few reasons:

• Not everyone agrees with every paragraph choice. I prefer small paragraphs to large paragraphs, which is closer to verse-by-verse. I read in large chunks, so I already ignore the verse divisions. The Canterbury’s section headings help create paragraph separations.
• Not everyone can find verses easily within paragraphs (although the red verse numbers of the Canterbury are ideal for paragraphs).
• Some find poetic settings difficult to read (especially for reading aloud).
• Some prefer to preach, or follow a preacher, using v-b-v because it’s faster.

With that said I would have preferred the Canterbury to have been in paragraph format. I believe the advantages of paragraphs outweigh v-b-v and the red verse numbers in the Canterbury would have overcome any issues in searching for verses. However, there are a few advantages to this layout:

• It has more white space rather than the page just looking like a sea of text.
• There’s some room to add small notes after most verses if you want to.
• Verses are easy to find because they’re lined up horizontally.

I like the Canterbury enough to use it even though I want paragraphs. My advice for reading any verse-by-verse Bible is to be mindful of sentence structure. Don’t just read a single verse because it’s too easy to miss the overall message and context. Look at the punctuation. Does the verse start at the beginning of a sentence? Many sentences take three or four verses. Don’t start or stop at a comma or colon. Read from the beginning of the sentence to the end regardless of how many verses it takes. The same goes with section headings. Don’t assume the topic started with the new heading. Read before and after the verses, section headings, and chapter breaks to help keep things in context.

Now, with all of that said, I still want a KJV Quentel. I still want a KJV in paragraph format. The Canterbury doesn’t take the place of a Quentel in my mind. There’s still a need for a paragraph KJV complete with translator’s footnotes. Another good choice would be a Schuyler or Allan edition of the Nelson Paragraph KJV like the NKJV. I want these to use along with the Canterbury – not replace it. This is my dream anyway and this is the direction Cambridge has been going in with the KJV Clarion and Pitt Minion.

References

There are 55,000 cross references that appear in the footer and are keyed to the text with letters. The footer includes the chapter and verse numbers in red. They’re separated from the text by a red line. The references follow the Quentel’s design of tapering toward the bottom of the page, giving the page an elegant look and grounding the page.

Here are a few verses as examples:

• Genesis 1:1 – Jn 1:12; Heb 1:10; Ps 8:3; 33:6; 89:11-12; 102:25; 136:5; 146:6; Isa 44:24; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Zech 12:1; Acts 14:15; 17:24; Col 1:16-17; Heb 11:3; Rev 4:11; 10:6
• Exodus 20:3 – Deut 5:7; 6:14; 2 Kings 17:35; Jer 25:6; 33:15
• Deuteronomy 6:4 – Isa 42:8; Mark 12:29, 32; John 17:3; 1 Cor 8:4, 6
• Isaiah 9:6 – ch 7:14; Luke 2:11; John 3:16; Matt 28:18; 1 Cor 15:25; Judg 13:18; Titus 2:13; Eph 2:14
• Matthew 17:20 – ch 21:21; Mark 11:23; Luke 17:6; 1 Cor 12:9; 13:2
• Mark 11:23 – Matt 17:20; 21:21; Luke 17:6
• Mark 12:29 – Duet 6:4; Luke 10:27
• John 1:1 – Prov 8:22-23, etc; Col 1:17; 1 Jn 1:1; Rev 1:2; 19:13; ch 17:5; Prov 8:30; 1 Jn 1:2; Php 2:6; 1 Jn 5:7
• Acts 2:38 – ch 3:19; Lk 24:47
• 1 John 1:1 – ch 2:13; Jn 1:1; ch 4:14; Jn 1:14; 2 Pet 1:16; Lk 24:39; Jn 20:27

Glossary

The glossary is the King’s English Glossary from Holman Publishers. It’s 9 pages with 3 columns per page and covers words that have changed meaning or are no longer in use. I’m glad this is included because many people that I talk to don’t realize that some words have changed meaning and it’s not always easy to pick up on that from the context. I see the glossary as essential for KJV’s. I highly recommend spending some time going through this glossary.

Concordance

The concordance is 43 pages with 3 columns per page. It’s actually more than just a concordance. It has biographies of key people and includes Scripture references for key events in their lives. This is very helpful for study.

The entries are in red. The concordance uses the same small font that is found in the Quentel series. It is a small font, but I do find it to be readable and I don’t use a concordance enough to want it larger. If it were larger that would just add to the bulk of this already large Bible.

Here are a few example entries with the number of references for each one to help you compare:

• Christ – 6
• Christian – 3
• Faith (see also Faithful, Faithless) – 40
• Faithful – 26
• Faithless – 2
• God (see also Gods) – 40
• Godhead – 2
• Godliness – 5
• Godly – 4
• Gods – 7
• Praise – 7
• Pray (see also Prayer) – 17
• Prayer – 12

Maps

It has 12 maps and a 3-page index to maps. The maps and the index are printed on slightly thicker paper than the text. They are colorful but not overdone. These are my favorite colors for maps. They’re also annotated well. They include borders, cities, distance, topography, Scripture references, places of worship, capitals, water, roads, canals, seaports, ancient inscription sites, events of Jesus’ life, Apostles’ ministries, places of writings, and more.

Here’s the list of maps (and one chart):

1. World of the Patriarchs
2. Israel’s Twelve Tribe Allotments
3. Route of the Exodus
4. Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon
5. Divided Kingdom

Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah (Chart)

6. Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
7. Persian and Greek Empires
8. Ministry of Jesus
9. Jerusalem and the Passion of the Christ
10. Apostles’ Early Ministry
11. Missionary Journeys of Paul
12. Roman Empire and Early Christianity

Ribbons

It has 3 navy Berisfords ribbons. They look and feel elegant and they’re long enough to pull to the corners to open the Bible.

The calfskin edition has 7mm Berisfords ribbons rather than the 10mm that the goatskin has. The reason for this is the calfskin is machine-bound and the 10mm doesn’t fit in the machine. I’ll admit that I contemplated the brown calfskin just because of the different colored ribbons. After using it for a while I actually prefer the smaller ribbons. I find them easier to deal with if they’re on a page near the page I’m using.

Gift Box

I usually don’t mention the box a Bible comes in but this one is unique enough that I have to talk about it. It’s a two piece box in black with gold printing on the top and two sides. The top has the Jerusalem Cross while the sides tell the model including the color and type of leather on one of the sides. The gold printing makes it the most elegant box I’ve seen for a Bible.

Using the Canterbury

My primary use for the Canterbury has been reading at home and preaching. Here are my thoughts on using it so far.

Reading

In my opinion, verse-by-verse and pronunciation marks are not ideal for reading, but I did find reading the Canterbury to be enjoyable. The font and paper are perfect for reading and I love the single column Psalms. The section headings do help because there are so many that they work like paragraphs. I was surprised at how easily the verse numbers are to ignore while reading.

Carry

The Canterbury is a large Bible. It isn’t quite as thick as the NKJV Quentel but it has the same footprint. It’s still large enough to feel like I’m carrying around a study Bible. It’s around the size of a Thompson Chain Reference. If that’s comfortable for you to carry around then you won’t have any issues carrying this one. I had no trouble carrying it and I even read from it in the car with no issues. However, I do prefer to carry smaller Bibles, so I’ll probably leave the Canterbury at home for our shopping trips.

Study

Material to help in study includes cross references, glossary, concordance, and maps with an index. The concordance is especially helpful because of the biographical information of key people. There are enough references (55,000) to get your started in study or sermon prep, but you’ll need other resources if you want more depth. I would like to see a table of weights and measures added. It’s probably enough for most beginner/intermediate-level study. I did end up using the Westminster to help on my New Year’s sermon.

Preaching

I’ve found the Canterbury to be an excellent Bible for preaching because the font is dark and sharp and the reference keys are so small that they don’t cause me to stumble while reading aloud. The pronunciation marks are not overdone. The cover stays completely open at Genesis 1, so I never had to fight with it to read from the pulpit. The text doesn’t bend into the gutter. The 7mm ribbons never got in the way like 10mm ribbons have for me.

The section headings are great for giving the immediate context. This helps for teaching and preaching when you want to give a quick overview of what’s happening around the verses that you’re reading. They also help for find things quickly. They break up the page and help make the verse-by-verse layout easier to follow because they work like paragraphs.

What About the Lack of Translator’s Footnotes?

There are no footnotes in this edition. I don’t think every edition needs them (they wouldn’t really fit into the design and purpose of text-only and reader’s editions) but I do think they should be included in a reference edition. I consider the translator’s footnotes to be part of the translation and I can’t help but notice they’re missing. Even though I would like to have them included in the Canterbury, this won’t keep me from using it.

The footnotes do help with study but for reading I find them distracting. For me this makes the Canterbury better for reading than study. I think the Canterbury is still worth buying even without the footnotes and if you want them badly enough then I recommend adding them to the footer of each page. There aren’t that many and some might not make enough difference, so you might not even need them all. I plan to write those that are the most important to me.

• Here’s the list of footnotes if you’re interested: An exhaustive listing of the marginal notes of the 1611 edition of the King James Bible

If you don’t want to write the footnotes and you still want them, then I would recommend the Schuyler Classic KJV (Schuyler’s edition of the Westminster). The Westminster is still a good choice and I don’t see the Canterbury as a replacement because they both serve a different purpose. If it’s one or the other then here’s how I would choose: If you prefer footnotes, more cross references, and a larger concordance then I recommend the Westminster. If you prefer section headings within the text, larger print, and better paper then I recommend the Canterbury.

Comparisons

From the top down: Concord, Classic KJV, Longprimer, NKJV Quentel, Canterbury.

Inevitably readers will want to know how the Canterbury compares to the Quentel and the top 3 KJV’s currently on the market. Here’s how it compares with the NKJV Quentel in black goatskin, the older Longprimer (with the thinner 32gsm paper and older print quality) in brown highland goatskin, the Concord in calfsplit, and the Schuyler Classic KJV. When the Presentation Reference releases I’ll include it as well.

Concord

Classic KJV

Longprimer

NKJV Quentel

Conclusion

I’ve been into paragraph editions so much lately that I thought I couldn’t get enjoy using a verse by verse layout, but the Canterbury surprised me. The Schuyler Canterbury is a beautiful Bible. Between the paper quality, readability, and calfskin that lays completely open, this is a Bible that entices me to read and use it. 2K/Demark’s design along with Jongbloed’s production has created a top-notch KJV that I will use for years to come. I highly recommend the Schuyler Canterbury in calfskin to anyone looking for a large print KJV with highest quality paper and print in an affordable price-point.

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Schuyler’s personal size edition of the KJV Canterbury is in the editing stage and they hope to have it available in spring 2018. This edition will be red letter. They’ve retained the red drop caps. This edition will have thinner paper than the regular edition and will not include a concordance. It will include maps. The glossary will depend on how small the font becomes when they shrink it. I suspect it will be too small to be useful. Time will tell.

You can read our review of the regular Canterbury in calfskin here.

You can purchase a Canterbury or other Schuyler Bible at EvangelicalBible.com.

Here’s a peek at the personal size Canterbury design in red letter from their PDF file:

The post Personal Size Canterbury Sneak Peek appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

Photo from Evangelical Bible

The Turquoise is back, and Schuyler Bibles has joined with Cambridge to produce exclusive editions in blue or brown goatskin. It will also be available in black goatskin or calfsplit.

Here’s the list of features from Evangelical Bible:

Features include: (more info. found with each Bible)

Red under gold art gilt (blue under gold for the blue goatskin)
Full leather linings for the black, blue and brown goatskin editions.  Paste off for the calfsplit.
Two ribbons
Red-letter text
28 gsm Indopaque paper
Translator’s Preface
Pronunciation marks
Italics for inserted words
References and concordance
Family record section and presentation page
Map section
Smyth Sewn

Typography: 10/11 point Antique Old Style No. 3

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Schuyler’s ESV Personal Size Quentel (named for Peter Quentel) is based their regular size Quentel. This edition is reduced in size (hence the ‘personal size’) and has the same pagination. It also has thinner paper, no concordance (to help reduce the thickness and avoid a concordance with a font that’s too small to read), and has added pages for notes. It’s available in goatskin and calfskin. I’m reviewing the purple calfskin edition. It was made in the Netherlands by Jongbloed and typeset by 2K/Denmark. The text is the 2016 edition of the ESV.

This Bible was purchased for review. 

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Click here to buy from EvangelicalBible

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Cover and Binding

The cover is purple Meriva calfskin with a purple vinyl liner. This is a dark purple that doesn’t look out of place if a man is carrying it. I love this color. I’d carry it anywhere. The leather is soft to the touch and has a deep pebbly natural grain- much deeper than other Meriva covers that I’ve seen. It matches the Canterbury. This is my favorite calfskin. It’s much softer than calfsplit and more elegant than smooth calfskin. It isn’t floppy like goatskin. The cover is stitched around the perimeter.

The Jerusalem cross is debossed into the front. There are 5 raised spine ridges that separate the various sections. The text on the spine (which includes Holy Bible, English Standard Version, the Jerusalem Cross, and Schuyler) is printed in gold. It has a 9mm yapp (overhang).

The text-block is Smyth-sewn and will lay open anywhere I want it to. The white head and tail bands blend well with the purple cover, two 5mm purple ribbons, and red art-gilt edges.

The text block size is 7 x 4.7 x 1.1″. The overall size is 7.8 x 5.18 x 1.3″. It weighs 1 lb 5.9 oz. This size is perfect for carry and for holding in one hand to read.

Paper

The paper is 28gsm Indopaque. It’s extremely opaque, which is especially impressive considering how thin the paper is. The paper doesn’t really feel thin to my fingers though. It’s white in color and has a texture that feels like it’s coated. I found the pages easy to turn and a joy to read. It has 9 lined pages in the back for notes (which is the one thing I wanted to be added to the regular edition). The art-gilt edges, with red under gold, are nice and dark.

Typography

The text is in double-column, paragraph format with translation notes under the last verse in the outer column, and references across the footer. Poetry is set to stanzas. The header shows the book names and chapter numbers that appear on that page and the page number. The header text, chapter numbers, and chapter and verse numbers in the footer are printed in red.

The text is a black-letter 8.5-point Milo serif font with around a 9.5-point leading. It’s dark but not too dark. It’s highly consistent throughout. The text is printed with line-matching, so the lines on the front and back of the page line up to keep the page cleaner. The columns contain around 35 characters with around 7 words per line. It has enough inner margin to keep the text out of the gutter. The spacing between the words looks natural even at this smaller size.

It’s difficult to get poetry to look right in double column layouts, but 2K/Denmark gets it right in the Quentel series. They break up the lines at the right places (just like musical lines). There aren’t any lines with a single word. It’s nice and readable at this smaller size.

To my eye, the typeface (including the spacing and font weight) actually looks better at this smaller size than the larger edition (and I like the larger edition). It almost looks like the text was designed to be small to begin with.

References and footnotes are keyed to the text with letters and numbers. The keys are small and I find them easy to ignore, so I can read this text without having to look at every single footnote. They’re also a little difficult to see, but I can see them with my bifocals as long as my eyes aren’t tired. I did sometimes mistake them with quotation marks, or mistake quotation marks for keys. I like that the references and notes are separate from the text. The notes are under the outer column and the references go across the page in the footer, separated from the text by a red line.

Verse numbers are larger than the cross-reference and footnote keys and are much darker. This helps them stand out and makes them easier to find. I have no issues finding them quickly. I also had no issues ignoring them. Chapter numbers are in a two-line drop-cap and are printed in a red. This is a nice dark red that makes the chapters stand out.

The section headings are in all caps. They stand out from the text really well but I also find them easy to ignore. Books start on a new page, giving you a little bit of space for notes at the end of most books.

Cross References

It has over 80,000 cross-references. They are keyed to the text with letters and are placed in the footer in Milo sanserif. I like that it uses the same font family as the text. The chapter and verse numbers are printed in red. My main concern with reducing the size of the Quentel was how difficult it would be to read the smaller cross-reference text. They are a little difficult to read, but I can read them with my bifocals. There are plenty enough references for study and sermon prep.

Here are a few examples:

• Genesis 1:1 – Job 38:4-7; Ps 33:6; 136:5; Isa 42:5; 45:18; John 1:1-3; Acts 14:15; 17:24; Col 1:16, 17; Heb 1:10; 11:3; Rev 4:11
• Deuteronomy 6:4 – Cited Mark 12:29;
• Isaiah 9:6 – [Isa 42:8; Zech 14:9; John 17:3; 1 Cor 8:4, 6]
• Matthew 17:20 – [John 11:40]; see ch 6:30; ch 21:21, 22; Mark 11:23; Luke 17:6; [ch 13:31]; ver 9; [1 Cor 13:2]; Mark 9:23
• Mark 11:23 – Matt 17:20; [Ps 46:2; 1 Cor 13:2; Rev 8:8]; Rom 4:20; 14:23; Ja 1:6; [ch 16:17; John 14:12]
• Mark 12:29 – Luke 10:27; cited from Dt 6:4, 5; Rom 3:30; 1 Cor 8:4, 6; Gal 3:20; Eph 4:6; 1 Tim 1:17; 2:5; Ja 2:19; 4:12; Jude 25; [Matt 19:17; 23:9]
• John 1:1 – Gen 1:1; [Col 1:17; 1 John 1:1; Rev 1:4, 8, 17; 3:14; 21:6; 22:13]; Rev 19:13; [Heb 4:12; 1 Jn 1:1]; 1 Jn 1:2; [ch 17:5]; Phil 2:6
• Acts 2:38 – ch 3:19; 20:21; 26:18, 20; Lk 24:47; ch 22:16; [ch 8:12]; see Mark 16:16; ch 10:48; see ch 8:16; see Mark 1:4; ch 10:45; [8:15, 20; 11:17]; see John 7:39
• 1 John 1:1 – see John 1:1; [ch 2:13, 14]; Acts 4:20; John 19:35; ch 4:14; John 1:14; 2 Pet 1:16; Luke 24:39; John 20:27

Footnotes

These are the standard ESV footnotes. They’re also printed in Milo sanserif and are the same size as the cross-references. They include notes from Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Syriac, Masoretic Text, Vulgate, Septuagint, variant spellings of names and places (includes references), manuscript variants (including alternate renderings and omissions), where a name is spelled differently somewhere else along with a reference to the alternate spelling, when a word could more than one meaning, and if a Psalm is an acrostic.

Table of Weights and Measures and Abbreviations

The Table of Weights and Measures is a simple table with the biblical unit, approximate American and metric equivalents, and the biblical equivalent. This is a common table that’s found in many Bibles. I find it helpful for study. The footnotes also include this information on the pages where they’re mentioned.

The Abbreviations table lists the books of the Bible in standard modern biblical order along with the abbreviation. The abbreviations usually give a list of books of the Bible as found in the concordance. This edition doesn’t have a concordance but the abbreviations are also found in the cross-references, so this take is still helpful.

Maps

Unlike my original ESV Quentel, which had Oxford maps, the Personal Size edition comes with Schuyler maps by Dr. Barry J. Beitzel. These are the same maps as those in the NKJV Quentel and KJV Canterbury. They’re printed on thick, non-glossy, paper in full color. The colors aren’t bright. These are the colors I like the most for maps.

The maps cover cities, routes, distance, topography, areas of control (color-coded), capitals, cities of refuge, inheritance, battle sites, Scripture references, travels of Israel, kingdom territories, sites of royal inscriptions, dates, locations of events, locations where Paul wrote letters, lighthouse site, and more. It doesn’t include an index to maps. I suspect the font in the regular NKJV Quentel and Canterbury were too small to reduce.

Maps include:

1. World of the Patriarchs
2. Israel’s Twelve Tribe Allotments
3. Route of the Exodus
4. Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon
5. Divided Kingdom
   1. Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah (Chart)
6. Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
7. Persian and Greek Empires
8. Ministry of Jesus
9. Jerusalem and the Passion of the Christ
10. Apostles’ Early Ministry
11. Missionary Journeys of Paul
12. Roman Empire and Early Christianity

Comparisons

Here are some comparison photos.  ESV Pitt Minion, Schuyler ESV Quentel, and ESV Cambridge Clarion.

ESV Pitt Minion

The Pitt Minion has a similar footprint as the Personal Size Quentel. It has a concordance, so it might be better suited for deeper study or sermon prep. It also has a much smaller typeface (6.75 vs 8.5) and I find it much more difficult to read. The poetic setting isn’t as well-developed as the Quentel. The PM is easier to carry, but the PSQ isn’t difficult to carry and I prefer the larger font.

ESV Cambridge Clarion

The Clarion also has a similar footprint as the PSQ. It has a slightly larger font (8.75 vs 8.5), but it’s also thicker. This is due to the single-column layout. I find the PSQ easier to handle, although I do love the single column layout of the Clarion and that the references are near their verses (I use them to find verses quicker). Sometimes single column can be more difficult to read with bi-focals. I don’t have that probelm with the PSQ.

Schuyler ESV Quentel

The pagination is the same between the regular size Quentel and the PSQ. The regular size has much thicker paper (38gsm in my 2nd edition vs 28gsm), a much larger font (11 vs 8.5), and has a concordance, map index, and three ribbons. They make a great pair. I prefer the PSQ simply because I like smaller Bibles. I do find the regular edition much easier to read when my eyes are tired. To my eyes the opacity looks the same.

Conclusion

I love reading it and studying from Personal Size Quentel. I like the paper, print quality, and layout design. The double column design transfers well to the reduced size of the Personal Size Quentel. It creates an edition that’s designed to be read while providing 80,000 cross-references that don’t get in the way. It doesn’t include the concordance or map index, but everything else is here. I also like that they’ve added pages for notes.

The 8.5 text is much easier to read than I expected. I love the overall size of this Bible. I carried this Bible practically everywhere and found it to be great for carrying and reading on the go. This is the kind of Bible I can spend all day with. I usually preach from a larger print, but I found this Bible to be great for preaching. It would especially be a good choice for traveling preachers that want to carry smaller Bibles.

I can easily recommend Schuyler ESV Personal Size Quentel in purple calfskin to anyone interested in a reference ESV for carry, reading, and even preaching if you don’t need a larger print. This Bible is built well with high-quality materials and is one of the best designs available. Having the same pagination as the full-size edition makes the two editions a great combo- one for study at home or preaching from, and one for carry. This can easily be your one Bible if you don’t need a concordance. The ESV Personal Size Quentel in purple calfskin is on my list of all-time favorite Bibles.

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This Bible was purchased for this review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review. My opinions are my own.

Do you have a Schuyler ESV Personal Size Quentel? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

The post Schuyler ESV Personal Size Quentel Bible in Purple Calfskin – Review appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

The regular size Canterbury was Schuyler’s first originally designed KJV and it was one of thier most popular Bibles. It’s similar to their Quentel series but adds ornamental drop-caps and retains the verse-by-verse setting- creating a unique blend of old and new. Schuyler has now produced the Canterbury in personal size, which is a reduced version of the regular size Canterbury with a couple of differences: the Personal Size Canterbury has 28gsm Indopaque paper instead of 36gsm, it has 2 ribbons instead of 3, it has red letter for the words of Christ, the grain of the leather isn’t as deep, and it does not include a concordance. I’m reviewing the navy blue calfskin edition, made in the Netherlands by Royal Jongbloed and designed by 2K/Denmark.

This Bible was purchased for review. 

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Video Review

Binding

The cover is a soft navy blue calfskin. It has a matte finish and looks elegant. The grain isn’t as pronounced as my regular Canterbury. It looks similar to the calfskin leather used by Cambridge, RL Allan, and TBS but it’s a little softer to the touch. It has perimeter stitching and a paste-down liner. It has the Jerusalem Cross debossed into the front cover. The spine includes five spine ribs and the text printed in gold. The cover lays open but it might need to break in before it will stay open in Genesis. The overall size is 7.8 x 5.25 x 1.3″. It weighs 1 lb 7 oz.

It includes two blue ribbons. For me this is the perfect size to hold while reading and for carry. This size is ideal for any use on the go, for carrying to Church, visitations, funerals, weddings, home Bible studies, study groups, etc.

Paper

The paper is 28gsm Indopaque. It’s smooth to the touch and has a slight cream color with no glare under direct light. It’s highly opaque and it’s an excellent color for reading. I had no issues turning pages. The art-gilt is blue under gold. This is my favorite paper in the 28gsm range and I’m glad they used it to help keep this Bible thin.

It has 22 lined pages in the back for notes that use the same paper as the rest of the text. I plan to use this for notes for home Bible studies.

Typography

The text is presented in double column verse-by-verse format with Psalms in single column. All highlights are in a red. The header includes the page numbers in the inner margin, and the book name and chapter numbers in the outer margin. Cross references are placed in the footer and are separated from the text with a red line.

The font is 8.5-point Milo. It has a good amount of space between the lines. It’s red letter and line-matched so the lines on both sides of the page are printed in the same place on the page, which greatly improves readability. To my eye the font and paper have the perfect contrast. It’s comfortable to read for long periods of time. I like that they used red for the verse numbers. It makes them stand out when I’m looking for them and it makes them easy to ignore when reading.

The columns have around 38 characters and 6-8 words. The words are spaced apart comfortably without any words too close together or too much space between them. Most pages have around 45 lines, although this does change depending on the number of cross references in the footer. The inner margin is wide enough to bring the text out of the gutter. The text never gets lost in the bend. Books start on a new page, which can be used for notes if you want.

References are keyed to the text with letters. The letters are small enough to be easy to ignore but still readable at the same time. I like that cross references are placed in the footer because the text doesn’t have to share horizontal space with references, allowing for a larger font and a cleaner design.

It has italics for supplied words. It also has simplified pronunciation marks which break down the syllables and places a stress mark over the prominent syllable. They do include some common names in the Old Testament but they don’t include the most common names in the New Testament. For me these are more useful for preaching than personal reading.

The ornamental drop-caps are he LTC Goudy Initials fonts, and are printed in red with flowers, leaves, and vines. They take 5 lines for everything except Psalms, which takes 4 lines.

References

There are 55,000 cross references. They’re keyed to the text with letters and include the chapter and verse numbers in red. They are small but I still find them easy enough to read with my bifocals. The references taper toward the bottom of the page, giving the page an elegant look and grounding the page.

Here are a few verses with their references to help you compare:

• Genesis 1:1 – Jn 1:12; Heb 1:10; Ps 8:3; 33:6; 89:11-12; 102:25; 136:5; 146:6; Isa 44:24; Jer 10:12; 51:15; Zech 12:1; Acts 14:15; 17:24; Col 1:16-17; Heb 11:3; Rev 4:11; 10:6
• Exodus 20:3 – Deut 5:7; 6:14; 2 Kings 17:35; Jer 25:6; 33:15
• Deuteronomy 6:4 – Isa 42:8; Mark 12:29, 32; John 17:3; 1 Cor 8:4, 6
• Isaiah 9:6 – ch 7:14; Luke 2:11; John 3:16; Matt 28:18; 1 Cor 15:25; Judg 13:18; Titus 2:13; Eph 2:14
• Matthew 17:20 – ch 21:21; Mark 11:23; Luke 17:6; 1 Cor 12:9; 13:2
• Mark 11:23 – Matt 17:20; 21:21; Luke 17:6
• Mark 12:29 – Duet 6:4; Luke 10:27
• John 1:1 – Prov 8:22-23, etc; Col 1:17; 1 Jn 1:1; Rev 1:2; 19:13; ch 17:5; Prov 8:30; 1 Jn 1:2; Php 2:6; 1 Jn 5:7
• Acts 2:38 – ch 3:19; Lk 24:47
• 1 John 1:1 – ch 2:13; Jn 1:1; ch 4:14; Jn 1:14; 2 Pet 1:16; Lk 24:39; Jn 20:27

Glossary

It has a 9-page glossary that covers words that have changed meaning or are no longer in use. This is the King’s English Glossary from Holman Publishers. I’m glad this is included because we don’t always realize that some words have changed meaning and it’s not always easy to pick up on that from the context. A good glossary as essential for KJV’s. I highly recommend reading through it since the text doesn’t alert you to the words.

Maps

It has 12 maps and a 3-page index. They’re printed on slightly thicker paper than the text. They are colorful and look elegant. These are my favorite colors for maps. They’re annotated well and include borders, cities, distance, topography, Scripture references, places of worship, capitals, water, roads, canals, seaports, ancient inscription sites, events of Jesus’ life, Apostles’ ministries, places of writings, etc.

Here’s the list of maps (and one chart):

1. World of the Patriarchs
2. Israel’s Twelve Tribe Allotments
3. Route of the Exodus
4. Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon
5. Divided Kingdom
   1. Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah (Chart)
6. Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
7. Persian and Greek Empires
8. Ministry of Jesus
9. Jerusalem and the Passion of the Christ
10. Apostles’ Early Ministry
11. Missionary Journeys of Paul
12. Roman Empire and Early Christianity

Using the Canterbury

My primary use for the Canterbury has been reading at home, carry, and preaching. Here are my thoughts on using it so far.

Reading

Verse-by-verse and pronunciation marks are not ideal for reading, but I do like reading from the Canterbury. The font and paper are excellent for reading (unless you need large print). I love the single column Psalms. The section headings work like paragraphs. The red verse numbers are easy to ignore while reading.

Carry

The Personal Size Canterbury excels as a carry Bible. I had no trouble carrying it to read from it in the car, taking it on short trips, and carrying to Church. This is a great size for witnessing.

Study

Material to help in study includes cross references, glossary, and maps with an index. There are enough references (55,000) to get your started in study or sermon prep. I would like to see a table of weights and measures added. It’s probably enough for most beginner/intermediate-level study. I do have trouble reading the small references when my eyes are tired. It doesn’t have a concordance, so you’ll need other tools.

Preaching

I’ve found the Canterbury to be an excellent Bible for preaching. Even though the font is smaller than I prefer for preaching, it’s dark and sharp and the reference keys are so small that I don’t even notice them. The pronunciation marks are not overdone. The cover doesn’t want to stay completely open at Genesis 1, but I don’t have to fight with it to read from the pulpit. I’m sure it will break in easily. The text doesn’t bend into the gutter. The pages are easy to turn. The section headings are great for seeing the context and for find things quickly. They break up the page and help make the verse-by-verse layout easier to follow. I’m more likely to preach from it if I preach at someone else’s Church because I like larger print for preaching, but I have no issues preaching from it.

Teaching

The size is great for teaching small groups, home Bible studies, witnessing, teaching during lunch breaks, etc. It’s a good size for teaching while holding the Bible in one hand. The pages in the back are good for outlines, notes, lists, etc.

Comparisons

I’m comparing the Personal Size Canterbury with the most popular personal size reference editions with similar construction and materials. I’m also including the full size Canterbury so you can see the size difference.

Personal Size Concord

The Personal Size Concord is smaller. It’s still easy enough to read because of how dark the font is, but the stiff cover can make it difficult to use. It includes a dictionary, concordance, and glossary.

Cameo

The Cameo is slightly smaller and has a darker font. It doesn’t look as clean. It includes a concordance.

Brevier Clarendon

The Brevier Clarendon is the equivalent to the Cameo. It has a dark font but the paper is much thinner and isn’t as clean. It includes a cyclopedic concordance.

Compact Westminster

The Compact Westminster is smaller but also has a digital font and thicker paper. It also lacks a concordance.

Pitt Minion

The Pitt Minion is half the thickness and has a similar footprint. The font is much smaller but it’s clean and is presented in paragraph format. It also includes a concordance/dictionary combo.

Clarion

The Clarion is probably the closest to the size of the PSC. The digital font is slightly larger and the text is presented in single column paragraph. The paper isn’t as opaque. It also includes a concordance/dictionary combo.

Canterbury

The full size Canterbury has everything the PSC has, but adds a concordance, has 36gsm paper, and has 3 ribbons instead of 2. It’s large and heavy, but it’s a great choice for reading, study, and preaching. The two make a great combo.

Windsor

The Windsor is similar in size. It’s paper is a touch creamier. The font styles are different, but they’re close to the same size. It does include a glossary, pronunciation guide, and reading plan, but it has no concordance, maps, or references.

Conclusion

Everything about the Personal Size Canterbury looks and feels elegant. I love the paper quality, readability, the calfskin cover, and the overall size. The lack of a concordance or translator’s footnotes might make it difficult to use for some. I’m glad that it has the glossary. I’m always impressed with 2K/Demark’s design and Jongbloed’s production and this edition is a good as any I’ve seen. I highly recommend the Schuyler Personal Size Canterbury in calfskin to anyone looking for a compact KJV with highest quality paper and print in an affordable price-point.

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Photography by hannah C brown

This Bible was purchased for review. 

The post Schuyler Personal Size Canterbury KJV Bible Review appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

(photo from Schuyler Bibles)

Schuyler Bibles has announced their working on a wide margin edition of the KJV Canterbury. It should release in early 2019. Here are the preliminary specs:

• Margins: Outer 38mm; Inner 33mm; Top 25mm; Bottom 31mm)
• Font: 9.5 font
• Paper: 38 gsm

This is exciting news for me as I’m a fan of the Canterbury. I reviewed the black calfskin edition and the personal size in blue calfskin. Both are amazing Bibles and I’m sure the wide margin edition will not disappoint. I’ll post more information as it’s released.

The post Schuyler Bibles Announces the Wide Margin KJV Canterbury appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

image from https://evangelicalbible.com/schuyler-treveris/

-Updated 1-16-2019

Schuyler Bibles has revealed their latest design: the Schuyler Treveris Series. Unlike the Quentel/Canterbury series which focuses on referencing (like most Bibles on the market), the Treveris Series is designed with reading as the primary focus. The series will complement the Quentel/Canterbury series, so they’ll have one for reference, preaching, and study, and one for reading. This series takes a different approach to Bible design by taking the verse numbers out of the text and placing them in the left margin. It also removes all of the added features such as references, footnotes, and section headings. The series will start with the KJV.

image from https://evangelicalbible.com/schuyler-treveris/

For the KJV, this is a major change from the common verse-by-verse layout. It takes a text-first approach. The text is presented in single column paragraph format while at the same time reuniting sentences that have been divided by verse numbers. The verses have traditionally printed the first letter as a capital even if it continues the sentence. This continues that feature, which helps in finding where the verses begin and end.

image from https://evangelicalbible.com/schuyler-treveris/

Poetry and letters are usually not identified in the KJV. The Treveris will print poetry to look like poetry, letters to look like letters, and prose to look like prose. This includes all poetry the New Testament. Until now, the Cambridge Clarion, Pitt Minion, and New Cambridge Paragraph Bible are the only Bibles that solve those issues, but they still add the verse numbers within the text and have very little poetry in the NT.

image from https://evangelicalbible.com/schuyler-treveris/

Here’s a look at the specs they’ve published so far.

• Trim Size: 5.5″ x 8.5″ x 0.8″ (140mm x 215mm x 22mm)
• 28 GSM Paper, Font: 10 pt.
• Single Column Paragraph format.
• Single Column, Verse-by-Verse format for Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Poetry and Quotations.
• Ornamental Drop Caps
• Red letter (for King James Version)
• Italics for supplied words
• Epistle Dedicatory & Translators to the Readers
• Line Matching to avoid “see through”
• Art Gilt Edging
• Schuyler Bible Maps

Thoughts on Design

image from https://evangelicalbible.com/schuyler-treveris/

This sounds like it will be a large print thin-line edition with the footprint of the Concord. The 28gsm paper is the same that’s used in other editions such as the Omega, Legacy, Turquoise, the NIV Clarion, Personal Size Quentel, and the Personal Size Canterbury. This paper is highly opaque and even more expensive than the 36gsm used in other Schuyler editions. I’m glad they’re using this premium paper as it brings the size down and makes a Bible that’s great for carry to read, to visit other Churches, hospital and home visits, and anything I’d need a Bible for on the go. I’m more likely to carry a Bible in the 1″ range than the 1.5-1.75″ range.

image from https://evangelicalbible.com/schuyler-treveris/

The ornamental drop caps from the Canterbury are here, but they take four lines of prose instead of five. It will include italics for supplied words. Italics is great to identify added words, but they’re not complete and they can be confusing to today’s reader because they’re often seen as emphasis. I personally still like having them, so I’m glad to see they’ll be included. It won’t have self-pronouncing marks. This will help improve readability.

The word-count per line is around 14 words. This brings the text in line with the ESV Legacy. This is on the high side for me (I personally prefer 10-12 words), but it is within the range of ideal.

image from https://evangelicalbible.com/schuyler-treveris/

The emphasis is on readability. This is a good thing. We have hundreds of Bibles available that emphasize study and include references, footnotes, and verse-by-verse layouts that are designed for use with concordances and commentaries. This is why I’m glad they’re starting with the King James Version. The numbers are here if you need them, but the text isn’t a slave to the man-made verse divisions.

I know it’s designed for reading, but I plan to use it for preaching and teaching. I think it will be better for preaching in context. I prefer no distractions and I usually back up to the beginning of the sentence or paragraph anyway. The verse numbers in the margins will get me to the line I want, just like I do now with the Clarion. ‘Most’ of the time a verse starts at the beginning of the sentence or after punctuation, so it won’t be that difficult to figure out where a verse starts. It still has the capital letters, so it shouldn’t be difficult to find the verses.

The Schuyler Treveris isn’t the first design to ever move verse numbers to the margins. Here’s a look at just a few…

Other Editions with Verse Numbers in the Margin

The original Cambridge Paragraph Bible, the 1873 Scrivener, presented the KJV in double column paragraph with verse numbers removed from the text and placed in the margins, but it still included cross-reference and footnote keys in the text.

It’s also been done for Hebrew and Greek Bibles. I mentioned in this review that I wanted an edition in English. PubAssist has discussed the advantages of the design for readability. I even mentioned wanting this design in my LCBP Paragraph Bible review.

The New Testament in Modern English uses this design.

The New Jerusalem Bible uses this design.

Ending Thoughts

I’m looking forward to the Treveris series. Not every Bible needs to have references, footnotes, and focus on study. I read more than anything else and this looks like a good series for reading. Verse numbers are accessible, just in case you need them, but they’re not in the way when you don’t need them. It makes sense for Schuyler to complement the already popular Quentel/Canterbury series rather than compete with it.

I’m glad to see a KJV with reading in mind. The layout will match modern designs, making the most poetic translation have the most poetic layout.

You can see more about the Treveris series at Evangelical Bible.

Do you think the Teveris series will make a good edition for reading? 

The post First Impression: Schuyler Treveris Series appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

The Schuyler NKJV Personal Size Quentel is a reduced version of their regular size Quentel. It has the same pagination, thinner paper,  and pages for notes. Like the other personal size Quentels, it doesn’t have a concordance. It’s available in both goatskin and calfskin in several colors. I’m reviewing the black calfskin edition. It was made in the Netherlands by Jongbloed and typeset by 2K/Denmark.

This Bible was purchased for review. 

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Click here to buy from EvangelicalBible

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Table of Contents

1. Video Review
2. Cover and Binding
3. Paper
4. Typography
5. References
6. Footnotes
7. Maps
8. Comparisons
9. Conclusion

Video Review

Table of Contents

Cover and Binding

The cover is black calfskin with a dark blue vinyl paste-down liner. The calfskin is smoother than the ESV and NASB. It’s more similar to the KJV Personal Size Canterbury. It’s still soft even though it’s smooth.

It’s stitched around the perimeter. The front has the Jerusalem cross is debossed. On the spine are 5 raised ridges that separate the various sections. It has Holy Bible, New King James Version, the Jerusalem Cross, and Schuyler printed in gold. It has a 9mm yapp (overhang), which is larger than my other PSQs and the PSC.

The text-block is Smyth-sewn and stays open anywhere I want it to. It includes white head and tail bands, two 5mm black ribbons, and red art-gilt edges.

The text block size is 7 x 4.7 x 1.1″. The overall size is 7.8 x 5.18 x 1.3″. It weighs 1 lb 6.5 oz. This size is excellent for carry and for holding in one hand to read.

Table of Contents

Paper

The paper is 28gsm Indopaque, but it feels thicker than that to my fingers. It’s extremely opaque for how thin it is. It’s white in color and feels like it’s coated. I found the pages easy to turn and a joy to read from.

In the back are 26 lined pages in the back for notes. This is great for using the PSQ to teach from on the go. The red under gold art-gilt edges are nice and dark.

Table of Contents

Typography

The text is in double-column, paragraph format with poetry is set to stanzas and letter indented. The header shows the book names and chapter numbers and the page number. Translation notes under the last verse in the inner or outer column, and references across the footer. The header text, chapter numbers, and chapter and verse numbers for the references are printed in red. References are separate from the text by a red line.

The text is a red-letter 8.5-point Milo serif font. Both the black and the red about medium to dark and they’re highly consistent throughout. The text is printed with line-matching, so the lines on the front and back of the page line up to make the text easier to read. It has around 35 characters with around 7 words per line. The spacing between the words looks natural and it has enough inner margin to keep the text out of the gutter.

The text includes letters and numbers for references and footnotes keys. The keys are small enough to ignore and large enough to use. Verse numbers are larger than the cross-reference and footnote keys and are much darker. They’re easy to ignore for reading and easy to find when searching for verses.

Chapter numbers are in a red drop-cap that makes the chapters stand out. Section headings are in all caps. They stand out from the text but I also find them easy to ignore for reading.

This setting follows the older NKJV design with oblique type for Old Testament quotes. I like this as they’re easy to spot. Oblique type can look too similar to italics though.

Poetry looks amazing in this setting, which is impressive considering how difficult it is to get poetry to look right in double column layouts. Of course, it’s a 2K/Denmark design, and this is something they excel at. The lines are more similar to musical lines and have a poetic feel.

The only that stands out as odd is the text isn’t vertically centered in the page. It has almost no margin at the top and a lot of space at the bottom. It’s consistent all the way through. I did speak with Schuyler Bibles about this and it’s the way the NKJV was printed.

Table of Contents

References

It includes the standard 60,000 NKJV cross-references. They’re printed in the standard Quentel tapered design so the lines get shorter as they get closer to the bottom of the page. This helps ground the page. The chapter and verse numbers printed in red so they’re easy to find.

Here are some examples to help you compare:

• Genesis 1:1 – Ps 102:25; Is 40:21; Jn 1:1-3; Heb 1:10; Gen 2:4; Ps 8:3; 89:11; 90:2; Is 44:24; Acts 17:24; Rom 1:20; Heb 1:2; 11:3; Rev 4:11
• Deuteronomy 6:4 – Deut 4:35; Mark 12:29; John 17:3; 1 Cor 8:4, 6
• Isaiah 9:6 – Isa 7:14; Luke 2:11; John 1:45; Luke 2:7; John 3:16; 1 John 4:9; Matt 28:18; 1 Cor 15:25; Rev 12:5; Judg 13:18; Titus 2:13; Eph 2:14
• Matthew 17:20 – Mat 21:21, Mk 11:23, Lk 17:6, 1 Cor 12:9
• Mark 11:23 – Matt 17:20; 21:21; Luke 17:6
• Mark 12:29 – Deut 6:4, 5; Is 44:8; 45:22; 46:9; 1 Cor 8:6
• John 1:1 – Gen 1:1; Col 1:17; 1 John 1:1; John 1:14; Rev 19:13; John 17:5; 1 John 1:2; 5:20
• John 2:19 – Mat 26:61, 27:40, Mk 14:58, 15:29, Lk 24:46, Acts 6:14, 10:40, 1 Cor 15:4
• Acts 2:38 – Luke 24:47
• 1 John 1:1 – John 1:1; 1 John 2:13, 14; Luke 1:2; John 1:14; 2 Pet 1:16; Luke 24:39; John 2:27; John 1:1, 4, 14

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Footnotes

It includes the standard NKJV footnotes. I’m glad they’re included as the NKJV has some of the best footnotes. They provide detailed information about manuscript variances from the Nestle-Aland / United Bible Societies, Majority Text, Septuagint, Targum, Vulgate, and Syriac. They also have the literal renderings from Hebrew and Greek. There may be others, but these are the most prominent. I’ve always found the NKJV footnotes to be interesting and helpful for study. I like that they show the actual manuscript name and you can decide for yourself if they’re the best or not.

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Maps

It includes the Schuyler maps designed by Dr. Barry J. Beitzel. They’re printed on thick, non-glossy, paper. They’re printed in earth-tones, which are my personal favorite colors for maps.

They include cities, routes, distance, topography, areas of control (color-coded), capitals, cities of refuge, inheritance, battle sites, Scripture references, travels of Israel, kingdom territories, sites of royal inscriptions, dates, locations of events, locations where Paul wrote letters, lighthouse site, and more. It doesn’t include a map index. I suspect the font was too small to reduce.

Maps include:

1. World of the Patriarchs
2. Israel’s Twelve Tribe Allotments
3. Route of the Exodus
4. Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon
5. Divided Kingdom
   1. Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah (Chart)
6. Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
7. Persian and Greek Empires
8. Ministry of Jesus
9. Jerusalem and the Passion of the Christ
10. Apostles’ Early Ministry
11. Missionary Journeys of Paul
12. Roman Empire and Early Christianity

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Comparisons

Here’s how the NKJV Personal Size Quentel compares with the NKJV Pitt Minion, NKJV Cambridge Clarion, Thomas Nelson Compact Single Column NKJV, Schuyler ESV Personal Size Quentel, and the Schuyler NKJV Quentel.

NKJV Pitt Minion

The Pitt Minion has a similar footprint as the Personal Size Quentel, but it’s a lot thinner and has a smaller font (6.75 vs 8.5). It includes a concordance, so it might be better suited for deeper study or sermon prep. I love the Pitt Minion, but I find it more difficult to read. The poetic setting isn’t designed as well as the Quentel. The PM is easier to carry, but the PSQ isn’t difficult to carry.

NKJV Cambridge Clarion

The Clarion also has a similar footprint as the PSQ, but it’s thicker. It has a slightly larger font (8.75 vs 8.5) because of the single-column layout. I find the PSQ easier to handle, but I love the single column layout of the Clarion. It places the references near their verses. I prefer the overall size of the PSQ to the thickness and footprint ratio of the Clarion.

Thomas Nelson Compact Single Column

The Compact Single Column is similar in its footprint, but it’s thicker due to the single column layout and its thicker paper. It’s font is slighly smaller but it’s also darker.

Schuyler ESV Personal Size Quentel

The ESV PSQ has the same design, but its calfskin leather has a more pronounced grain. I like both, but I’m more drawn to the ESV’s grain. I personally won’t base a purchase decision on it.

Schuyler NKJV Quentel

The pagination between the regular size Quentel and the PSQ is the same. The regular size has6thicker paper (36gsm vs 28gsm), a larger font (11 vs 8.5), a concordance, map index, no paper for notes, and three ribbons. The two make a great combo. The opacity is about the same.

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Conclusion

The Personal Size Quentel is one of my favorite series of Bibles. I love the design, paper, print, and overall size. The double-column design looks great when reduced to personal size. It’s great for reading and the 60,000 references stay out of the way when you don’t need them and they’re easy to use when you do need them. It doesn’t include a concordance or map index, but the 26 ruled pages will be great for notes.

I love that it matches the regular edition, which creates an amazing combo. The is a great size for carry and I find the 8.5 font a joy to read. I’ve preached from it several times with no trouble. It’s a great choice for evangelists and missionaries (unless you need a concordance or larger print).

It’s easy to recommend to anyone wanting a hand-sized NKJV that’s designed and built well, and is great for carry, reading, Bible study, teaching, and preaching. The NKJV Personal Size Quentel is one of my favorite NKJV’s. And, since the NKJV is one of my favorite translations and there have been a lot of amazing editions released lately, that’s saying a lot.

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This Bible was purchased for this review. 

Do you have a Schuyler NKJV Personal Size Quentel? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

The post Schuyler NKJV Personal Size Quentel Bible in Black Calfskin – Review appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.

The Schuyler NASB Personal Size Quentel is a reduced version of the regular size Quentel. It has the same pagination but with thinner paper. Like all of the personal size Quentel Bibles, this one does not have a concordance. It’s available in both goatskin and calfskin in several color options for each. In this review, I’ll take a look at the brown calfskin edition. Like all Quentel editions, it was made in the Netherlands by Jongbloed and typeset by 2K/Denmark.

This Bible was purchased for review. 

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Click here to buy from EvangelicalBible

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Table of Contents

1. Video Review
2. Cover and Binding
3. Paper
4. Typography
5. References
6. Footnotes
7. Maps
8. Comparisons
9. Conclusion

Video Review

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Cover and Binding

The cover is dark brown Buttero calfskin with a brown vinyl pasted liner. The leather is soft to the touch and has a deep pebbly grain. It’s soft to the touch but it isn’t floppy like goatskin. The cover is stitched around the perimeter. The front has the Jerusalem cross debossed. On the spine are 5 raised spine ribs with Holy Bible, New American Standard, the Jerusalem Cross, and Schuyler printed in gold. It has a 9mm yapp (overhang).

It’s Smyth sewn and easily stays open on any page. It includes white head and tail bands, two 5mm gold ribbons, and red art-gilt edges. The overall size is 7.8 x 5.18 x 1.3″. It weighs 1 lb 7 oz. This size is perfect for carry and for reading in one hand.

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Paper

The paper is 28gsm Indopaque. It’s white in color and feels like it’s coated. It’s looks and feels elegant. The coating makes it feel thicker than 28gsm. It’s extremely opaque for how thin it is. I’ve used it for several months and haven’t seen any significant page-curl. I found the pages easy to turn and a joy to read from.

It has 10 lined pages in the back for notes. I’m glad to see lined pages. I’d like to see more publishers do this. This is great for using this Bible to teach from on the go. The art-gilt edges are red under gold.

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Typography

The text is in double-column, paragraph format with poetry set to stanzas. The header shows the book names and chapter numbers in the outer margin and the page number in the inner margin. Translation footnotes are under the last verse in the outer column, and references are placed horizontally across the footer. The cross-references are separated from the text by a red line. The header, chapter numbers, and chapter and verse numbers for the cross-references are printed in red.

The typeface is a black-letter 8.5-point Milo serif font with a good amount of leading to make the text highly readable. It’s about medium to dark and it’s highly consistent throughout. It’s printed with line-matching, meaning the text on both sides of the page line up to reduce show-through and make it easier to read. The paper is opaque enough that there’s no graying behind the text.

It has around 7 words per line. The word spacing looks natural with no extra spaces. The inner margin is wide enough to keep the text from bending into the gutter. Italics are used for supplied words. Paragraphs are marked with bold verse numbers or letters. OT quotes in the NT are in small caps. Asterisks are used to show when verbs are historical presents in the Greek but translated in the past tense in English. Personal pronouns for Deity are capitalized.

The chapter numbers are in a red drop-cap. This makes the chapters stand out. The text includes reference and footnote keys. They’re small enough to ignore, but they’re still large enough to use. The verse numbers are large and dark. I also find them easy to ignore when reading, but they’re easy to find when searching for verses. Section headings are in all caps and stand out from the text. I find them easy to use when searching and easy to ignore for reading.

Like all Quentels, the poetic settings look amazing. The poetic lines don’t break in awkward places. It looks natural. This is impressive when you consider how difficult it is to get poetry to look right in double column layouts and the fact that it only has around 7 words per line. 2K/Denmark did an excellent job on this design.

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References

It has 95,000 cross-references. The pilot chapter and verse numbers are in red. This is an excellent set of cross-references for study and sermon prep.

Here are a few examples of references to help you compare:

• Genesis 1:1 – a Ps 102:25; Isa 40:21; Jn 1:1, 2; Heb 1:10; b Ps 89:11; 90:2; Acts 17:24; Rom 1:20; Heb 11:3 c Job 38:4; Is 42:5; 45:18; Rev 4:11
• Deuteronomy 6:4 – a Matt 22:37; Mk 12:29, 30; Luke 10:27 b Deut 4:35, 39; John 10:30; 1 Cor 8:4; Eph 4:6
• Isaiah 9:6 – x Lit be a Is 7:14; 11:1, 2; 53:2; Luke 2:11 b  Jn 3:16 c Matt 28:18; 1 Cor 15:25 d Is 22:22; e Is 28:29 f Deut 10:17; Neh 9:32; Is 10:21 g Is 63:16; 64:8 h Is 26:3, 12; 54:10; 66:12
• Matthew 17:20 – x Lit as a Matt 21:21f; Mk 11:23f; Luke 17:6; b Matt 13:31; Luke17:6; c Matt 17:9; 1 Cor 13:2;  d Mark 9:23; John 11:40
• Mark 11:23 – Matt 17:20; 1 Cor 13:2
• Mark 12:29 –  Deut 6:4
• Acts 2:38 – a Mark 1:15; Luke 24:47; Acts 3:19; 5:31; 20:21; b Mark 16:16; Acts 8:12, 16; 22:16
• John 1:1 – a Gen 1:1; Col 1:17; 1 John 1:1; b 1 John 1:14; Rev 19:13; c John 17:5; 1 John 1:2; d Phil 2:6
• 1 John 1:1 – a John 1:1f; I John 2:13, 14 b Acts 4:20; I John 1:3; c John 19:35; 2 Peter 1:16; I John 1:2 d John 1:14; I John 4:14 e Luke 24:39;  John 20:27 f John 1, 4

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Footnotes

Translation footnotes are placed under the outer column on each page. They cover more literal renderings, alternate translations, readings from variant manuscripts, and explanatory equivalents. They also include references to where something is quoted from. It uses terms such as Gr, Lit, Or, and “Two early mss”, but not “best mss” or “oldest mss”. The footnotes are excellent and are great for study and getting insights into the translation. I would like to see the manuscripts identified as the NKJV does.

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Maps

It includes 12 Schuyler maps designed by Dr. Barry J. Beitzel, printed on thick, non-glossy, paper. These maps use earth-tones. This is my favorite colors for maps. They’re sharp and well-drawn. I’ve always loved cartography and these maps are some of my favorites.

They include cities, routes, distance, topography, areas of control (color-coded), capitals, cities of refuge, inheritance, battle sites, Scripture references, travels of Israel, kingdom territories, sites of royal inscriptions, dates, locations of events, locations where Paul wrote letters, lighthouse site, and more. It doesn’t include the map index. The font was too small to reduce it down in size to fit the pages, but I’d like to see it reworked if needed so it can be included. Map indexes save a lot of time and make maps more useful.

Maps include:

1. World of the Patriarchs
2. Israel’s Twelve Tribe Allotments
3. Route of the Exodus
4. Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon
5. Divided Kingdom
   1. Kings and Prophets of Israel and Judah (Chart)
6. Assyrian and Babylonian Empires
7. Persian and Greek Empires
8. Ministry of Jesus
9. Jerusalem and the Passion of the Christ
10. Apostles’ Early Ministry
11. Missionary Journeys of Paul
12. Roman Empire and Early Christianity

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Comparisons

Here’s how the NASB Personal Size Quentel compares with the NASB Pitt Minion, NASB Cambridge Clarion, and the Schuyler NKJV Quentel.

NASB Pitt Minion

The Pitt Minion has a similar footprint as the Personal Size Quentel, but it’s a lot thinner and has a smaller font (6.75 vs 8.5). It includes a concordance, so it might be better suited for deeper study or sermon prep. I love the Pitt Minion, but I find it more difficult to read. The poetic setting isn’t designed as well as the Quentel because line breaks are not as well thought-out, which is a shame because it has more words per line to work with. The PM is easier to carry, but the PSQ isn’t difficult to carry.

NASB Cambridge Clarion

The Clarion also has a similar footprint as the PSQ, but it’s thicker. It has a slightly larger font (8.75 vs 8.5) and a single-column layout. I find the PSQ easier to handle, but I love the single column layout of the Clarion. It places the references near their verses, but there are so many that it doesn’t always line up well. I prefer the overall size of the PSQ to the thickness and footprint ratio of the Clarion.

Schuyler NKJV Quentel

The pagination between the regular size Quentel and the PSQ is the same. I don’t have the NASB in regular size, but it’s similar to the NKJV here. The regular size NKJV has thicker paper (36gsm vs 28gsm), a larger font (11 vs 8.5), a concordance, map index, and three ribbons. The opacity is about the same even though the personal size is 8gsm thinner. The regular size NASB now has 28gsm paper. The first thin edition did not include the concordance, but the next edition will. The regular and personal size makes a great combo.

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Conclusion

The Personal Size Quentel is one of my all-time favorite series of Bibles. I love the design, paper, print quality and font design, and overall size. The double-column layout looks amazing when reduced to personal size. I find the 8.5 font easy to read. It’s an excellent Bible for reading and study. The 95,000 cross-references are easy to use and out of the way. It does not include a concordance or the map index. I’d love to see the index included in the personal size editions. I’m sure I use maps more than most Bible readers, though, so I’m probably in the minority on that. It does have 10 ruled pages for notes.

I love that it matches the regular edition. This makes an excellent combo so you can have a large print to read, study, and preach from, and a smaller edition to carry and read on the go. I’ve preached and taught from the personal size edition with no trouble. This is a good choice for evangelists and missionaries.

The NASB Personal Size Quentel is easy to recommend to anyone wanting a hand-sized NASB that’s designed and made well, and that’s great for reading, carrying, study, teaching, and preaching.

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________________________________________________

Click here to buy from EvangelicalBible

________________________________________________

This Bible was purchased for this review. 

Do you have a Schuyler NASB Personal Size Quentel? Let us know what you think about it in the comments below.

The post Schuyler NASB Personal Size Quentel in Brown Calfskin – Review appeared first on Bible Buying Guide.