New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with Apocrypha, Black Calfskin Leather, KJ595:TA Black Calfskin: Personal Size

This is truly a beautiful Bible and the paragraph format makes reading so much easier and enjoyable. The subtle grammatical changes does not take away from the message, and it makes it so much easier to read. The size of the print is fine for me. I have -8.50 vision in both eyes and wear glasses, and I'm able to read it just fine. I don't have to squint or anything. Also, I don't think that the text on the opposite side of the page shows through to the point where it makes it hard to read. I literally read through a page with no issues, the same as I do any other book with normal printing paper. The leather is so soft and smooth. At first, I went back and forth because of the price, but by the quality of the leather, I can understand why the price is so high. I still don't like paying such a high price for the word of God, but I went ahead and did it anyway. I included several images so that you can see different aspects of the Bible. I included a picture of the table of contents, as that was missing from all other reviews I found online. I don't understand why people leave that out as it's the most important part of a book review. I actually think the publisher should include that in the description. Anyway, please note that this Bible DOES NOT include the Book of Enoch, and a few other Apocryphal books. I purchased the "Complete Apocrypha", also from Amazon, to compliment this Bible, as I had asked a YouTuber who did a review on this Bible if Enoch was included, and he told me no.

This is an exquisite offering from Cambridge. It is a 1611 version of the venerable King James Bible, with the apocryphal books included. It is so rare to find a KJV with all the books that originally were included in the very first King James and Geneva bibles. To my limited knowledge, the only other high quality bible to offer this is another Cambridge bible, the Cameo. It is my personal belief that these apocryphal books are less than scripture, but still useful for learning about the period between the Old and New Testaments, and the development of what would later become Christian theology.The pages are about like the Clarion, not tissue paper thin, not opaque and thick. There is imperfect line matching in this bible, meaning, it is mostly line matched, but occasionally it is off, but I find it doesn’t bother me. The cover is calfskin, perhaps a Meriva calfskin, and is lovely and floppy.The editor was a man named David Norton, a scholarly sort of man and a lover of the venerable old King Jimmy. He made some minor spelling corrections to make some words from the 1611 comprehensible to our minds, and added punctuation for speech. All of these corrections I find valuable and helpful. Another positive that this bible has is that the original KJV translators’ notes are included, and added into the inner gutter, as opposed to the outside of the page. It always baffled me that the Clarion has them on the outside, so that the text runs into the gutter. Not so with the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, and it makes it much more readable than the Clarion.The actual size of the bible in-hand is what I call “the sweet spot.” Not as large and bulky as a Schuyler Quentel, but also not as cramped as a Clarion. It’s the perfect all around size, large and legible font with single columns for sustained study and reading, but sized just right so it can be stowed in a backpack or briefcase or taken to church.I am just so pleased with this bible. If you love the King James, are curious about or interested in the apocryphal books, and want a high quality, perfectly sized KJV, the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is for you.

Rather than spend the time typing what has already been well-said about the contents of this Bible, please refer to the reviews for the hardcover version: New Cambridge Paragraph Bible with Apocrypha Personal Size KJ590:TA.Over at the blog bltnotjustasandwich, noted biblical scholar "Theophrastus" had this to say about the new personal-sized edition: "...it seems to me that this edition of the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible gets much closer to the ideally designed Bible."What I can personally add is that the calfskin leather is extremely supple; it's a true pleasure to handle and easily passes several "Bible yoga" poses. Yes, the Bible does lay open flat. The dimensions of the Bible are adequate for personal, private devotion; and I think it fits in the hand rather nicely. It comes with gilt-edged pages and two red ribbon markers. Some people may find some complaint with the font size, but I personally think it is reasonably proportioned: the paragraph format more than makes up for it in terms of ease of reading. Ghosting is minimal - most noticeably in the poetry sections.This, quite simply, is the best Bible I have ever owned - and, as many biblicists may understand, that is no laughing matter. However, it will not be everyone's ideal Bible as there is no concordance and virtually no cross-references. It is designed as a reading Bible with adequate margins for notes - and serves that purpose very well. Cambridge is hitting a series of homeruns with these new paragraph-formatted Bibles.