There have been several new Bibles for notetakers announced recently that I wanted to mention.
First, on This Lamp, Rick includes a brief look at the new NRSV Notetaker’s Bible. This new Bible has a single-column text setting and ruled 2″ outside margins for notes. [sample pages] According to the promo text on CBD’s website, this new edition from Oxford will be available in hardcover, deluxe cloth and bonded leather. The paperback size is 8″x6¼”, while the hardback is a little taller (9″x6¼”) to accommodate the cover. The NRSV Notetaker’s Bible is to be released in February 2009.
Second, a commenter on TC’s New Leaven blog noted the impending release of a new TNIV Bible in Zondervan’s NoteWorthy Collection. Zondervan is taking a slightly different approach by inserting a completely blank page after every page in the Bible. So you have a double-column text page on the left and a blank page for notes on the right. [sample pages] Other features include an inside pocket for notes and an elastic band to keep the cover closed. According to Zondervan, this will be available in black bonded leather, as with the standard version of the TNIV Reference Bible. The paper size is 6¼”x7¼”, almost square like the TNIV² or the NRSV XL editions. The TNIV NoteWorthy is to be released in May 2009.
Finally, the HCSB is also available in a notetaking format. The HCSB Notetaker’s Bible is currently available in separate editions for Men (brown hardback) and Women (mauve/olive green hardback), continuing B&H’s maddening trend of niche publishing. Compared to the NRSV and TNIV editions above, B&H also drops the ball in design aesthetics, simply reproducing the layout of their reference Bibles (double column text with center-column cross references) with ruled lines on the outside and above the text – see the Excerpt pages on CBD’s site. The HCSB Notetaker checks in at 9¼”x7¼”, the largest of all three editions considered here.
Of all three, I like Oxford’s approach with the NRSV the best, especially the single-column text, though I share Rick’s hesitation about the ruled lines. Better, I think, to have just left the space blank for more freeform notes. The TNIV provides more than adequate freeform space “to journal, take notes or sketch”, as their marketing states. This is really quite attractive too and I think this could be a more successful edition than the trim NT edition that Zondervan had previously released, which, at just over 3″ wide, felt tight and awkward just holding it in my hands, much less writing actual notes. Just from the interior page comps, the HCSB looks like a disappointment in aesthetic appeal – I can’t help but feel this was rushed to market to have something in the catalog against competition like the ESV Journaling Bible et al. Hopefully a more thoughtful design is in the works for the promised HCSB “Second Edition” text in 2009.
Finally, I can’t help but think that the plain wide-margin Bible has gone the way of the dodo, replaced by these journaling concept editions. That’s too bad, in my opinion, but with an appeal to publishers to invest in great layout aesthetics, perhaps we can have our cake and eat it too.
ElShaddai,
thanks for posting this. I have been considering one of these, I even requested the HCSB one for review but never got one. Oh well it never hurts to ask.
I kind of like the TNIV the best. It gives you ample room to write notes, but I am in an awkward place of transition right now. With bible revisions being release it seems all of the time, and new bibles coming out as well, it just feels like it is more and more difficult to commit to one bible translation as a primary text for study and devotions. Now that they have introduce the ESVSB with the ability to write notes on-line makes me wonder if I ever need to write in another bible again. Plus who knows if I will stick with that translation I am currently using 5 years from now? It makes it very difficult to figure out which bible to chose for this sort of purpose, and in some ways in general (i.e. study/devotion).
This is all good, just need to figure out who to deal with it. For nearly 20 years I used the NKJV, until I opened Pandora’s box and have been jumping around from the ESV, HCSB, TNIV, NLT. Can’t make up my mind which I prefer the best, the only problem is that there is no turning back as I find the NKJV to be no longer a choice for me. It’s like Cortez, I burned the ships and there is no way back.
These all look wonderful, and while I feel tempted to get one of those TNIV ones, if experience tells me anything, I should save my money: I have a wonderful KJV/1881 RV “interlinear” with wide margins and a notepad in the back (once published by Cambridge), but I’ve never been able to bring myself to write anything in it!
I’m personally offended by the TNIV products. They show an unconscionable anti-left-handed bias.
Hi, I had a question about the HCSB Notetaker’s Bible, are the covers a glossy hardback like a textbook? Or are the covers a sort of velvet material like the ESV journal bibles?
Thanks,
Jospeh
Hey, Keith, lefties are included! Zondervan publishes an identical upside-down version of the TNIV you can use just as nicely as the standard version.
You have to read the text backwards and upside down, though. But, admittedly, this is easier to do than writing northpaw.
:: grin ::
Rich
BlogRodent
But that gets you closer to the way the original Hebrew was read, right?
@Joseph – I’m sorry, I don’t actually know. I’ve only seen mention of these online so far. I’ll try to stop by a local bookstore and see if they have the HCSB, but that translation is poorly represented in these parts (Minnesota). If I had to hazard a guess based on other HCSB editions, I’d lean toward a glossy hardback…
@Robert – I hear you on all the different editions that are coming out… it’s mind boggling at times and downright paralyzing. I haven’t made electronic tools a part of my desktop yet, but it certainly would be more consistent (and cheaper) to look into than buying a scribble Bible that you may not use regularly.
That said, the TNIV *does* look interesting – I wasn’t impressed with the NT edition they previously released – but a complete Bible in the larger format might be something else.
Wow! All these bibles for note taking. I’ve never thought of getting one but it is handy. I do write in my bible a lot.