Holman NKJV Large Print Personal Size Reference Bible – Review
Quality NKJV’s are hard to come by. Most NKJV’s are inexpensive (cheap) or study Bibles. Holman’s Large Print Personal Size NKJV is a hand-size Bible is a higher quality than average NKJV at a great price.
Pros
- Soft cover
- Large print
- Sewn binding
Cons
- Text feels crowded
Features
- NKJV
- Family pages
- Brown Genuine Cowhide
- Raised hubs
- Red letter
- 11 point font
- 20 page Concordance
- 8 Maps
- 8.5 x 5.75 x 1.25
- Gilted edges
- Brown ribbon marker
- SRP $59.99
- ISBN: 9781433613180
Click here to buy on Amazon: Holman’s Large Print Personal Size NKJV
Cover and Binding
The cover is genuine cowhide. It is soft and has a beautiful grain. I am a fan of this cover. There are 6 raised hubs on the spine. It is soft and feels elegant. The liner is vinyl-coated card stock. It’s not very think and might loosen up and make the cover more flexible. The binding is sewn. It will stay open somewhere in Exodus. I’m sure it will lie flat after it breaks in a little.
Paper and Print
The paper isn’t too bad. The opacity looks about the same as a Clarion or better. The paper is thicker than the Clarion. There is a random page here and there that is crinkled. Some are worse than others.
I’m guessing on the font size, but it looks like an 11/12. It looks like it has line-matching. There isn’t enough white space. The margins are smaller than most Bibles of this size and there is not much room between the columns of text. It looks and feels crowded. I did get used to it the more I read with it though. The print quality does seem to be consistent throughout, with about a medium boldness. The red-letter is fairly consistent with about a medium shade of red.
Layout
The text is presented in two-column, paragraph format. Poetry is set to verse. OT quotes are in italics and sometimes set to verse. References appear at the end of the paragraph and footnotes appear in the footer. Section headings are bold and help make the text more readable. The size of this Bible is perfect for reading in one hand and for carry.
References and Footnotes
This is called a reference Bible, but there are very few references. There are not enough references for any serious study. They appear at the end of a paragraph. This placement doesn’t work that well for a paragraph layout. It is much better suited for verse-by-verse layouts. I would prefer them to be in the footer with the footnotes.
Concordance
The concordance is small at only 20 pages. It doesn’t have a lot in it. It has 6 entries for God. It will do for a few of the major things you might want to look up, but it won’t be much help for serious study. It’s not a selling point for this Bible. It’s better than nothing.
Maps
There are 8 pages of colorful maps printed on thick paper. I like this paper the best for maps because it’s not the shiny. They are the standard Holman maps and they look great.
Conclusion
With its small number of references and concordance entries this is not a Bible for serious study. It is better suited for carry or reading. More white space would have made the text more readable, but it’s still a readable text with the section headings a layout. It’s a good alternative to the more expensive Clarion. What you lose in references and concordance you gain in font size. The brown cowhide is easily one of my favorite covers.
Click here to buy on Amazon: Holman’s Large Print Personal Size NKJV
Here are some comparison’s to the Cambridge Clarion in NKJV:
Holman Publishing provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review- only an honest review.
Compared to the future NKJV Quentel this Bible comes up short on everything but price $60 vs. $220. That said this is an excellent Bible to refer to the average believer. Why have skimpy cross-references and concordance? Cut them and call this a text Bible. Red letter is a negative too for many too. But this is a good review and right on target for Bibles we can recommend (well constructed) to others.
Thanks Paul. I can’t wait for the Quentel – both NKJV and KJV. I’m glad it will be black letter. Its text, paper, cover, references, footnotes, maps, and concordance look amazing. That’s my ultimate Bible. I’m with you on the red letter. The more I read black letter the less I like red letter. – Randy
I think the problem is more with low-grade show-through paper than with the red letters. I will always prefer the words of Christ in red. I think this looks crowded too. Also, they didn’t use the full-set of the NKJV translator’s notes in this bible, they used the stripped down version which is a shame. I’d rather they omitted all the “NU” readings and left the others in that they left out.
I bought this bible recently and, for the price, am impressed with it. The cover is nice. The maps are nice. And the font is what I would call “large print” (compared to Holman’s Large Print Ultrathin NKJV, which seem to have a relatively small font). The pages are nice and opaque. As stated, margins are too small for any meaningful notes. But my gel highlighters and pens don’t bleed through. One thing that does impress me is the consistency of the darkness of the red print. Holman’s Ultrathin is printed in Korea. The red letters vary in shade from page to page. Not so in this personal size – the red print is relatively dark and very consistent from page to page. The book block in this bible is printed in China. I used to be resistant to buying bibles printed in China, but after picking up some Crossway ESVs with china-printed book blocks, and now this Holman with a china-printed book block, I am seeing China has upped their quality and produce some very precise and consistent print. I’m pleased with this bible. I got it on sale for under $40. I think I got an outstanding deal.
Hi Rowland. It sounds like you got a great deal. I’m more impressed with some of the Chinese printings than I thought I would be. I love a good dark and consistent red letter.
Randy,
Nice review. I’m shopping for a decent NKJV and this looks reasonable.
If cost was not an issue would you go with the NKJV Clarion for a reading bible?
Any thoughts on the Schuyler NKJV?
Thanks John.
Hi John. The Clarion is my daily reader. If I had to buy another one to replace this one I would. It is one of my favorite Bibles. It’s good for reading, study, and carry. I haven’t seen the Schuyler. I just know the Clarion is a little smaller and has references. The Schuyler has a larger font and better paper. This Holman is a good choice for the money, but it’s in a different quality category than the Cambridge and Schuyler.
Hi Randy,
Thanks for the review. I have the Big brother of this Bible, the Super Giant Print Edition and I am really enjoying using it. True the text does, at first, seem a little crowded and in this edition the in text headings are missing, but I have gotten used to it and I prefer it to the Thomas Nelson Giant print bible that I own. I agree that they should do away with the references as they are pretty thin and only add clutter. The real winner for me is the font and also the font size. The print size is 18pt which is massive but I like it as when I am preaching I like to wander away from the lectern and this is great as I can still see it from wherever I am
Thanks
Rob
I’m surprised to learn that the binding for this Bible is sewn. I’m in the midst of reviewing its little brother, the Large Print Compact Reference Bible (also in the brown cowhide), and the LPCR is NOT sewn, which I find incredibly frustrating. In addition to the durability issues that accompany a glued binding, the combination of the glued binding and a tight gutter make the LPCR much more difficult to use than it ought to be. It is so hard to hold flat that I have literally lost chapter numbers in the gutter. I was baffled that Holman went to all the trouble of commissioning a new setting and then didn’t sew the Bible. If they DID sew the larger versions, things make much more sense.
Hi Matthew. I was actually surprised that it was sewn. I originally wrote that it was glued, but I wasn’t 100% sure. I kept inspecting it and found stitching. Nice website btw.
Thanks for the reply and the kind words, Randy. I’ve been a dedicated reader of your site for quite a while now, so I’m glad to hear that you appreciate what I’m doing.
The frustrating thing about the LPCR is that it LOOKS like it’s sewn. It has those regular “holes” along the gutter like a sewn binding does. However, closer inspection revealed that they are just triangular notches filled with glue and not thread. Not surprisingly, the Bible won’t lay flat in Matthew, much less Genesis or Revelation! Hopefully, my review will nudge Holman toward sewing the LPCR too. In my opinion, sewing is actually more important in a smaller Bible than a larger, just because the greater weight of a larger text block will help to hold the Bible open.