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On
Bible Publishing
From
my April 2003 Weblog
Every
so often I have to vent my frustration with Bible publishers. Considering
how many of them there are, it is incredible that so few are interested
in doing the job really well. I could count the number of well-designed
Bibles on one hand, and the number of well-bound ones with a finger
or two. Amazing as it seems, the world's bestselling book -- and
the last one that still merits a leather binding -- suffers from
a lack of aesthetic stewardship.
There
are notable exceptions. The quality of Cambridge Bibles is generally
superb (although a few less-than-perfect specimens have passed through
my hands in the last couple of years). For the connoisseur, there
is R.L. Allan's excellent bindings. But even in these cases, the
quality of the page design, particularly with editions of the King
James Version, is woefully inadequate. Most of the settings are
archaic and, compared with modern typefaces, difficult to read --
a fact that is compounded by the fact that the KJV text is not set
in paragraphs. As far as I know, the only editions of the KJV in
paragraphed text are the New Testaments available from the Trinitarian
Bible Society and Today's KJV from Bible First.
Modern
translations suffer from similar shortcomings. The new English Standard
Version, for example, is published by Crossway, whose lack of experience
publishing Bibles has resulted in a very promising translation being
saddled with an inadequate design and shoddy binding. The quality
of "genuine leather" used in the Classic Edition is disappointing,
and the "bonded leather" of the slimline seems to be a
cardboard alloy -- which is a double shame considering that the
slimline edition's layout is far superior to the reference edition's.
Perhaps the best of the lot is the Pocket New Testament. The Psalms
are set in a single column, preventing the awkward carriage returns
that marr the poetic text throughout the other editions. On top
of these complaints, Crossway has consistently delivered new items
well after the announced launch date, which has left enthusiastic
early-adopters in an apoplexy of frustration. (It's not all bad,
though: the upcoming New Testament recordings by Marquis Laughlin
are quite good, and the Collins UK paperback and pocket editions
of the ESV are available at Amazon UK.)
There
are two aesthetic examples of which the rest of the industry ought
to take note. First is the remarkable job Tyndale has done in packaging
the New Living Translation. I'm not really a fan of this translation,
but I've picked up a number of copies simply for their good design.
Tyndale has managed to do what no one, including Cambridge, has:
produce a "synthetic" leather binding that is more satisfying
than the run-of-the-mill leather. If only Tyndale and Crossway could
arrange to swap translations! The second example is that of Oxford,
which has recently released the 50th Anniversary Edition of the
RSV. The new typography is clean and stately, and the binding quite
pleasant in the hand. If Oxford would print a newly-typeset edition
of the KJV in paragraphs the same size as this RSV, it would be
my favorite for all time. Alas, it seems unlikely.
One
of the great tragedies of our generation is that the King James
Version is slipping out of use. More and more, it is being pushed
into the margins, and with it goes a rich literary experience that
will certainly have no equal in this language. An edition in modern
type set in readable paragraphs with modern punctuation would go
a long way toward keeping the text accessible to the next generation
of readers.
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