Would you buy a premium leather Catholic Bible?

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I don’t vote in public polls – but I will say that I own THIS ONE and I really like it for casual use. It is compact in size, and it’s not the one I use to take notes in (that one has a paper cover and tabs). I like this one to carry to Mass or Adoration - it is small enough to throw in my purse, but large enough to read easily, and the zipper feature keeps holy cards and whatnot tucked inside.

I absolutely think there is a market for a good leather bound Catholic Bible! I wish my 1962 Missal was leather bound!

~Liza
 
dkushner said:
Jehutx X

If you have an old copy it may be Moroccan leather since they made the switch recently to bonded leather. The old and new are indistinguishable as far as part numbers go. I could tell that mine was not genuine leather as soon as I laid my hands on it.

Many reseller websites have NOT updated their descriptions to match the change - Amazon.com has as far as I know.

David
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// i have third impression (2007) and it’s a flex cover - burgundy leather edition…
 
First of all, many thanks to everyone who has voted and contributed this thread.

Now…if you’re crazy like me, and would be willing to save-up for a HIGH QUALITY premium genuine leather Catholic Bible (in your choice of translation, TBD of course) please continue to the next paragraph. If you’re a healthy soul, and terms like ‘art-gilt pages’, heirloom-quality, semi-yapp covers, and highland goatskin don’t stir up unnatural passion, you’d be best served to remain ‘normal’ and just avoid this whole thread in the future. Just stop reading right here. 😃

If your appetite hasn’t already been whetted enough for a REALLY good quality Catholic Bible, just take a peek at one of J. Mark Bertrand’s reviews like this one right here: jmarkbertrand.typepad.com/bibledesign/2007/09/the-rl-allan-re.html

If you’re crazy like me, and reading Mark’s review(s) gets you excited about the possibility of premium high-quality genuine leather Catholic Bibles (like Protestant Bible lovers can already enjoy) please continue to watch and contribute to this thread. I can’t make any promises, but if I am confident that there are more people out there like me (and I think there are), I will remain dedicated to making this happen somehow.

Regards
David
 
I like the NAB, the Jerusalem Bible and the New Jerusalem Bible. I have a copy of the JB and the NJB Bibles in Premium Leather…I am looking for a New American Bible in Premium Leather (preferably without pictures…but maps and study notes would be cool). Oh, I also like the RSV and the NET Bible. (The NET Bible is not a Catholic Bible, but it has a ton of helpful notations and other useful study aids…it also uses the phrase “faith of Christ,” instead of “faith in Christ” which is a subtle difference, but that is for another post)! Thanks for the Poll.
 
I would buy either the RSV-CE or the Douay-Rheims but I am not sure which. It would probably be the RSV-CE though since it’s supposed to be the most accurate. 🙂
 
All

I came across this entry on J. Mark Bertrand’s (high-end Bible guru) Bible Design and Binding website and thought I’d share it with you. I couldn’t agree with him more.

David

jmarkbertrand.typepad.com/bibledesign/2008/01/marketing-high.html

From the article by J. Mark Bertrand:

"Starting Points for Marketing High-End Bible Editions
Code: 
1. We want real quality, not the illusion of luxury. Don't approach the Bible as yet another luxury brand. At the moment, such brands are increasing prices while cutting corners on quality. The marketing exec's job is to "build the brand," making up for the decline in quality by selling cachet. This works, but it also creates a dissident market consisting of people who miss the old durable, well-made standard. The market for high end Bibles is such a dissident group. We're ready to spend more to get a quality product. Don't make us pay a premium for fancy packaging, though. We're looking for real, not perceived, value.

2. Treat us like readers. The Bible isn't a fashion statement. It isn't a reference work, either. First and foremost, it's a book meant to be read. Design and binding choices should proceed from that assumption. Right now, we often have to choose between the bland and the kitschy. We'd prefer tasteful contemporary approaches to the tradition. Modern typography and layout, quality materials and construction. Since most of us hope a high end Bible will last a lifetime, give us something we can live with. You wouldn't try and sell us a house with a cracked foundation, so don't sell us a Bible with a glued binding. And if you wanted to sell us that house, you wouldn't tart it up with glitter and faux painting, either, so don't go overboard chasing trends.

3. Give us features -- and quality control. First, we have expectations about what a quality edition should include. Sewn bindings and quality leather covers resulting in a limp, flexible Bible that will open flat out of the box. We want clean, thoughtfully-designed text printed on opaque paper. In other words, we're measuring today's editions against an older, quality-driven standard, and we expect them to compare favorably. How do you tell the difference between real features and gimmicks? Easy. Look at what readers really need. (Extra ribbon = essential; vial of holy water = not so much.) Second, at this price point, we expect excellent quality control. Most of us will be buying sight unseen, so we expect you to weed out inferior samples before they reach us. Uneven impressions, poor gilding, damaged pages -- all of these are unacceptable in a high end edition.

4. Let us look before we buy. The market for high end editions is increasingly online, but it still seems to be approached with a bricks and mortar mindset. When researching a purchase, we want to see what the layout and binding really look like. Instead, we tend to see photos of packaging, which tell us nothing. Make extensive photos of your editions available, and be open about specifications, binding styles, cover material, and so on. If the market for high end editions seems weak, it might be because readers who aren't fortunate enough to have a bookstore in the area that displays your line are reluctant to purchase blind. Help us out!

5. Give us choices. Give us a choice between goatskin and calfskin. Give us a choice between black, red or tan. Give a choice between single or double column, and whether we want a wide margin or not. Or if you can't, give us the option of buying an unbound text block we can customize to our preference. There are lots of choices in the marketplace, but most of them are at the bottom end. The more variety you give us, the better -- we tend to be repeat customers, after all."
 
Here are a few resources to help explain the different types of leather, for those who are interested. I’ve included quotes from both sources that mirror my opinion of bonded leather - especially relevant when applied to a book that is used every day.

Leather 101
“Bonded Leather is the PT Cruiser of the leather world… pure junk. Leftover scraps are ground together with glue and resurfaced in a process similar to vinyl manufacture. Bonded leather is weak and degrades quickly with use. Most Bibles are covered with this.”

Wikipedia - Leather
“Bonded leather , or “reconstituted Leather”, is not really a true leather but a man-made material composed of 90% to 100% leather fibers (often scrap from leather tanneries or leather workshops) bonded together with latex binders to create a look and feel similar to that of ‘true’ leather at a fraction of the cost. Bonded leather is not as durable as other leathers, and is recommended for use only if the product will be used infrequently. One example of bonded leather use is in Bible covers.”

I think bonded leather is ok for ‘gift Bibles’ that may never be read, but I’d prefer cloth or synthetic for durability. I am still committed to convincing a publisher to bind various Catholic Bible translations in real high-quality leather. I’d like to hand my Bible down to the next generation or two, and I really want a durable, heirloom quality binding.

If you share my desire, please reply to this thread with your ‘wish list’ of features (type of leather, color, etc) you’d like to see in a premium leather Catholic Bible - and please vote in the poll to state your preference for the translation that you would be willing to buy in a high-end Catholic Bible.

David
 
Yes I would and I have 3 of them that are premium leather, then I have other Catholic Bibles that are hardbound and paperback.
 
I’d probably not pay for a premium leather edition Bible.

I do have most of those Bibles mentioned in the poll, but I think the version to wait for is the Ignatius Bible.

Scott Hahn, a familiar face on EWTN, is working on the full commentary of the Bible. I think only the New Testament has been finished so far.

Don’t spend a lot of money until you get to see the full Ignatius Bible, whenever that is finished.

I just read in the 1990 New Jerome Bible Commentary that in 1917 or 1918 the Vatican Canon Law (#1400) said that Catholics could read any Catholic or Non-Catholic edition of the Bible that they wished, with or without the Deuterocanonical books that appear in the Catholic Bibles. Their only condition was that they recommended that Catholics NOT use an edition which is specifically anti-Catholic. An example of that is the Ryrie Study Bible, which has anti-catholic stuff in it. (I know it has, because some relatives gave me a copy of that.)

My suggestion if you need something quick, go to amazon.com and look for a clean used bible to buy and use until the full Ignatius Bible is complete.

I bought the Ignatius Gospel of Mark (I don’t know why I did, exactly.) It has a lot of nice study features which will get you through the gospel, covering the main features of that gospel.

In 1993 the Pontifical Biblical Commission (a Vatican think tank on the Bible) put out this document called Interpretation of the Bible in the Church. It is available free at the EWTN website ewtn.com, in the document library. If you’re not a heavyweight on bible controversy, you might bog down on reading this. The point is, they said for the average Catholic to get a commentary to help them understand the bible.

As opposed to that, you might want to select a Bible that your study group is going to use, if you’re going to stick with such a study.

A modern translation like the New Revised Edition - 2nd Catholic Edition is a very readable edition. In and of itself, it has only very few comments to clarify the most difficult matters in the text.

I’ve blown money on lots of bibles and books, because I read six books at a time,but very slowly for sure. I look around at different books and commentaries for thoughts. The information I want is just not all in one place.

I’m looking at some very detailed Jewish commentaries on the Torah. They really squeeze the Hebrew for all its meaning. Sometimes they see things highlighted in Hebrew and tell you so, even if they don’t know what it means, themselves.

For example, there is structure in Genesis, that I’ve never heard described before. As you read it, you will notice that it seems like a patchwork, often with little transition between the pieces. Turns out that Gen has twelve sections – twelve, an important number in Judaism – perhaps signifying the 12 tribes.

Jews don’t claim to have a full blown theology. They’re not worried about such things. They do look at how God is revealed and how man is described. I guess I can’t get too long-winded here about what in an entire commentary. But, it’s good to have different commentaries around, too.
 
As far as I know are still places where you can get books done in new bindings - so if I saw a Bible with all the features I wanted, I’d just get the binding removed and have it rebound as I wished.
 
It makes me sad to know that Baronius :eek:no longer makes their Bibles of genuine leather…I bought one of theirs some time back, & it is an:) exceptionally well made Bible, of excellent materiels & design. I just** love** it.
And now they:( no longer offer the same quality?:(.
I love my Ignatius RSV-CE, but I very much wish I could have bought it in real leather, not the bonded stuff…It is the one I marked that I would like to be able to buy. (A concordance & cross references would also be greatly appreciated).

Really, this is a sad thing…I guess that having Bibles rebound may be the only way to get top quality. It just:( shouldn’t be that hard.
 
Zooey said:
It makes me sad to know that Baronius :eek:no longer makes their Bibles of genuine leather…I bought one of theirs some time back, & it is an:) exceptionally well made Bible, of excellent materiels & design. I just** love** it.
And now they:( no longer offer the same quality?:(.
I love my Ignatius RSV-CE, but I very much wish I could have bought it in real leather, not the bonded stuff…It is the one I marked that I would like to be able to buy. (A concordance & cross references would also be greatly appreciated).

Really, this is a sad thing…I guess that having Bibles rebound may be the only way to get top quality. It just:( shouldn’t be that hard.
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Zooey

I share your frustration, it shouldn’t be so hard to buy a premium quality leather bound Catholic Bible - that’s what I’m trying to change.

While Baronius doesn’t currently offer a genuine leather version of their Bibles, they are still high-quality Bibles. If I could have gotten my current Baronius Press DR-C Bible in exceptional highland goatskin, or calfskin, I would be happy. I am just not a fan of bonded leather for a Bible that I plan on having my whole life - and hopefully handing down.

Oxford does make a ‘genuine leather’ RSV-CE that is ok, but not great. I believe that the Oxford RSV-CE and Ignatius RSV-CE share the exact same text blocks (like they shared a production run), but the Ignatius is not available in genuine leather at all. The term ‘genuine leather’ does mean that the Bible is made of a sheet of real leather, albeit not the highest quality top-grain or full-grain leather. It has a highly varnished surface, and is not as durable as higher grades of leather.

“Genuine Leather is the third grade of leather and is produced from the layers of hide that remain after the top is split off for the better grades. The surface is usually refinished (spray painted) to resemble a higher grade.”

Also, the Oxford RSV-CE that I own has quality control issues with the sewn text block - it’s falling apart. I know of two other people who have the same exact model from OUP and they have the same issue, in the exact same place.

When I bought my Oxford RSV-CE Readers Edition in genuine leather I thought I was getting a Bible of the highest quality - but now that I’ve learned more I realize that it’s only of mediocre quality relative to readily available premium quality Protestant translations.

I am still trying to convince a publisher that Catholics would be willing spend the money on a premium quality leather Bible, but have not been successful thus far. Publishers seem to have sales-based evidence that Catholics tend to be very price conscious, and aren’t familiar with (therefore don’t desire) the premium features that many Evangelical Protestants take for granted in a top quality Bible. I started this thread to see if we could present evidence to the contrary. I believe a few Catholic publishers may be monitoring this very discussion thread.

If you want to see examples of the quality I’m looking for in a Catholic translation, check out some of the exceptionally bound Protestant Bibles at bibledesignblog.com/ This site is an excellent resource for learning about real high end, top quality leather Bibles - you will not see any Catholic translations however. I often refer to the Bible Design and Binding Blog to help educate Catholic Bible readers of what we could have if we were speak up loud enough, and vote with our wallets.

David
 
Zooey said:
It makes me sad to know that Baronius :eek:no longer makes their Bibles of genuine leather…I bought one of theirs some time back, & it is an:) exceptionally well made Bible, of excellent materiels & design. I just** love** it.
And now they:( no longer offer the same quality?:(.
I love my Ignatius RSV-CE, but I very much wish I could have bought it in real leather, not the bonded stuff…It is the one I marked that I would like to be able to buy. (A concordance & cross references would also be greatly appreciated).

Really, this is a sad thing…I guess that having Bibles rebound may be the only way to get top quality. It just:( shouldn’t be that hard.
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Here is a list of premium leather Bibles a Catholic could use: catholicbibles.blogspot.com/2009/03/premium-leather-bible-round-up.html
 
mccorm45 said:
Here is a list of premium leather Bibles a Catholic could use: catholicbibles.blogspot.com/2009/03/premium-leather-bible-round-up.html
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mccorm45

Just to clarify - the Bibles you reference on your site may be some of the best quality Catholic translations currently available, but are not of the premium quality that I’m seeking. I think we’re talking about two different things.

The quality I’m referring to in this thread is simply not available anywhere, at any price - for Catholic translations.

David
 
dkushner said:
mccorm45

Just to clarify - the Bibles you reference on your site may be some of the best quality Catholic translations currently available, but are not of the premium quality that I’m seeking. I think we’re talking about two different things.

The quality I’m referring to in this thread is simply not available anywhere, at any price - for Catholic translations.

David
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What you mean is not available as new anywhere or at any price. There are lots of old premium Catholic Bibles that are available, with magnificent bindings, papers, typeset, illustrations, and notes. They just aren’t published anymore. But they are still available at a price. 🙂

There still remains the option of having any given modern Catholic Bible rebound by an expert bookbinder. I’ve done that many times. 😉
 
AmbroseSJ said:
What you mean is not available as new anywhere or at any price. There are lots of old premium Catholic Bibles that are available, with magnificent bindings, papers, typeset, illustrations, and notes. They just aren’t published anymore. But they are still available at a price. 🙂

There still remains the option of having any given modern Catholic Bible rebound by an expert bookbinder. I’ve done that many times. 😉
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AmbroseSJ

I stand corrected, you are right. In fact, I recently purchased a 1941 DR-C with a supple semi-yapp black leather cover on eBay. I’m unsure of the leather details, but it must be good quality since it is over 60 years old and still soft, supple, and in good condition.

It also has art gilt red under gold page edges, which is a nice touch.

David
 
dkushner said:
AmbroseSJ

I stand corrected, you are right. In fact, I recently purchased a 1941 DR-C with a supple semi-yapp black leather cover on eBay. I’m unsure of the leather details, but it must be good quality since it is over 60 years old and still soft, supple, and in good condition.

It also has art gilt red under gold page edges, which is a nice touch.

David
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👍
 
LilyM said:
As far as I know are still places where you can get books done in new bindings - so if I saw a Bible with all the features I wanted, I’d just get the binding removed and have it rebound as I wished.
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I’m having a relatively new non-Catholic 🙂 Bible rebound. I fell in love with it, but the cheap, sewn binding started separating after five months. The new cover is costing twice what I paid for the Bible! I still have at least two weeks to wait and I’m kind of going through withdrawl like when Lucy took away Linus’ security blanket for her school science project.
 
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