Taking the Luxury Bible Plunge

Well I did it. I took the luxury Bible plunge - well kind of. I just preordered the top of the line black goatskin ESV Study Bible.

Don't read luxury as "needless bible bling" you find a lot of junk in "Christian Bookstores" but just because you slap a cross on something kitschy doesn't make it a Christian product. In this instance Luxury is a synonym for quality.

As I mentioned yesterday I've been reading the Bible Design Blog and I hit an article on the an article on the new ESV Study Bible. Reading Mark's blog is going to cost me money in the long run. I'm not panicking just yet. I got a good deal due to the Moody Bible Institute Pastor's conference and cut the cover price in more than 1/2. I decided I can live with that.

I've been reading about the ESVSB for over a month and I got to see some mock-up's at the MBI Pastor's conference. Plus thanks to Mr. Bertrand I've been aching to get my hands on a good goatskin bible.

I've been reading the ESV on my Treo 650 for my evening devotions for months now. With all of that said I started comparing what this bible has in line with my list and it looks like the ESV Study Bible is one worth owning. The one downside is that it's large - weighing in at 2,752 pages and a trim size of 6 ½ × 9 ¼ inches.

As far as quality components go, the paper is reputed to be the finest in the world, high-opacity. Smyth Sewn binding - in every format. The text it self is 9-point set in a single paragraphed column (Words of Christ in black!) with 7.25-point notes set in two columns.

I still passionately love the NASB and will for the time being continue to memorize in it but for just plain devotional reading and armchair study I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy the ESV Study Bible.

Once it finally arrives (in October) it will free up my beloved NASB which in it's current decrepit battered state is getting a bit embarrassing to tote around. Now I'm free to start looking into rebinding techniques.