Featured Which publisher(s) make the best Bibles?

reason why they do quality work is believe to them seeing it as servicing the lord and his kingdom foremost, making monies secondary!

 

would say Nelson and Crossway and Zondervan come to mind!

Not unless you spend for thier premium grades!

Would look for Smyth sewing even before grade of leather!

 

In my collection I have a NASB (Charles Stanley) by Foundations (Lockman). It has wide margins but I just cannot bring myself to write in this beautiful Bible. Awsome Callfskin covers and fantastic bindng. This is a big footprint, no-nonsense text only Bible. Allan does offer a ESV (III) at under $100.00 but it does not have a leather lining like the more expensive Allans.

If I were in the market for a premium KJV I would go with the Local Church Executive Line. At the $100.00 + price range there are a lot of good options though. I still say for about $30.00, the NASB Foundations thinline refrence in genuine leather; available on line is the best actual deal. I have been reading this Bible everyday for 2 years and it still looks new!

 

The Holman bibles in thinline genuine leather really nice, and under 50 bucks!

 

Yes, I have one of them also, NKJV (big print) thinline. It is nice and priced about the same as the Foundations NASB. However, while the Holman is mfg. in the USA (I think) and the Foundations in China, still, I like the foundations better for two reasons.

First the finish of the cover (Foundations is a duller finish, Holman is shiny, I like the dull finish personally). Second, on genuine leather Bibles in this price range, the leather itself is pressed before binding. The press gives the cover a consistant grain. The grain pattern pressed into the Foundations cover is much tighter than the Holman. I personally like the tight grain better but that is just my opinion. You are right, the Holman is a good deal also. I think the Foundations also has a nicer grade of paper and a better fit/finish. But I you want a NKJV, get a Holman now while they are still available.

 

I personally go for durability over 'feel', as have a Ryrie in pigskin blue, that was special order, don't think moody even makes that leather any more, that has worn strong 30 years!

 

Personally I think that the BEST Bible are manufactured by

www.localchurchbiblepublishers.com

There are many good reviews on YouTube

And I personally ordered 2 from them.

They have a wide variety to fit every need and budget.

 

That is the binder right here in Mi, correct?

Still want to get a calfskin old scofield from them!

 

I'll add that the Trinitarian Bible Society makes good quality KJV Bibles at affordable prices. Most of their Bibles are Cambridge settings but they are coming out with some settings of their own now. They only print "black letter" editions which is a big plus for me for a couple of reasons but it will be a minus for those who like red letters.

Evangelical Bible, the USA distributor for Allan, is coming out with their own line, Schuyler Bibles. The first two will be an ESV and a NKJV.

I got an Oxford Scofield III a few years ago. While the cover is nice, (Navy Bonded leather that is better than most "Genuine Leather" today) despite the fact that it's sewn and with overcasting no less, it's going to fall apart soon and I probably used it for less than a year. But I think (or hope) it may be defective with regard to how the cover is attached to the spine because it seems to be off center.

It looks like Crossway sews all of their bindings now, even their "Value Thinline." (But the paper with that one is too thin for me--too much ghosting.) I've still seen reports of quality issues (inconsistency) with their higher end products though, but you even see complaints about Kirkbride and Cambridge these days. The first one I bought from Crossway was a hardcover Classic Reference with a glued binding that started coming apart after maybe two years of semi-regular use.

After discovering the Bible Design Blog a few years ago, I'm more compelled than ever to look at Bibles every chance I get. I've seen more sewn bindings from Zondervan and even Nelson lately with lower end Bibles of the type you see at Walmart. I don't know if this is a calculated decision or if it has more to do with what factory in Asia is producing them.

The Nelson Signature Series doesn't appear to be in production at this point, which is somewhat surprising given the increased interest in "premium" Bibles in recent years. And toward the end of it being regularly available in the mid-2000's it looked like they were combining the premium leather with the low quality paper that they were using in their regular line.

For the NASB fans, Lockman makes nice Bibles, but I've seen some complaints following the move of production to China. But they give you more choices with regard to whether or not you want red letters or all black, etc.

Beyond low quality covers and bindings, probably the biggest complaint I see today is with paper, even with high end publishers like Allan. I just ordered a vintage KJV with India Paper from an ebay seller so I'm interested to see the difference.

 

I have a handi size KJV bible received from mother when she passed, and it was published by a Philly Bible distributors? made in 1950, genuine leather, india paper, except for the zipper frayed on the cover, in really good shape some 60 years later!

 

pilgrim99 you make a lot of good points and I agree with you on most if not everything you say.

Allow me to add a few comments. On the Crossways ESV classic reference, yes the binding is sewed and covers are genuine leather. However, the finish of the leather is an off color (a lighter shade of black, almost gray), the covers are not square to the spine, and the finish on the corners of the covers are not going to stay together with hard use. The thread holding the pages together are either too tight or there is some glue in the binding, I say this because the Bible will not lay flat even when turned to the middle of the Bible, say in the Psalms.

Thomas Nelson, even in their low end KJV and NKJV bonded leather reference editions are sewed (and glued) which is nice but the covers are so bad they will literally fall apart in about 2 years of everyday use. Of the big 3 (Nelson, Zondervan and Crossways), I personally rank Nelson the lowest.

Zondervan has the best binding of the big 3. I bought about a half dozen NIV 1984 reader edition bonded leather thinlines from CBD for about $10.00 on closeout. As of now they still have them for sale. If you don't mind the stiffness of the bonded leather and want a text only NIV for your everyday carry, this is a good one to get. I had one that I read almost everyday for about a year and stayed in good shape. Sewed binding and lays flat, easy of the eyes. I gave it to a non-believing co-worker and She just raved over how much she likes it!

Since the Schuyler ESV is shown on Evangelicalbible with prices and it looks like the NKJV will be the same at prices like those of the Allan. These are as you know pricy even for me. I would like to get an Allan but the ESV I as you probably know are almost $200.00 and given the fact that I have plenty of Bibles already have a hard time convincing myself that I should get one. But someday.

I agree with you totally with regard to paper.

Thanks,
Tom

 

Why not try one of those Bible from local church publishers right here in Mi, as seems to be the common view that second best bound bibles, to Allans, at literally the price of bonded leather anything else!