Church Bible Publishers has released a new series of Bibles in full yapp, milk chocolate brown Water Buffalo leather. They include a cowhide edge-lined liner and perimeter stitching. The leather covers are handcrafted by AA Leather. They’re made in USA.
It’s available in the midsize Thompson Chain Reference, the midsize Classic Study, the midsize Turquoise Reference, and the Wide Margin Text Bibles. They’re sending a Thompson Chain Reference around to a few reviewers and I was on that list. I don’t get to keep it, so I won’t be able to answer many questions or do more comparisons. Hopefully, I’ve been able to take enough photos to help get an idea of how it looks and feels.
Video Review
Full Yapp Leather
The leather has a carmel brown color that I adore and a beautiful grain that looks and feels luxurious. The yapp (overhang) has stitching around the perimeter and the top and bottom touch as they wrap around the text-block. The front has no printing. The spine has 5 rasied ribs and the text is stamped in gold. The liner is cowhide and also has a gorgeous grain. It’s edge-lined and has no trouble staying open on the first page. The cover itself is stiffer than I expected, but I actually like this as it makes the Bible easy to hold in one hand. It also includes 3 3/8″ ribbons that are 3″ longer than standard Bible ribbons.
Comparisons
Here’s how the full yapp wather buffalo looks compared to their regular yapp water buffalo and the full yapp Longprimer in highland goatskin.
Regular Yapp Water Buffalo
Full Yapp Longprimer in Highland Goatskin
You can get the full yapp water buffalo Bibles from CBP.
Randy,
Thanks again for another review – it looks like a beaut. How would you compare the paper if the CBP to the Kirkbride printing?
Cory
Thanks Cory. The text-block is a Kirkbride from 2018. I haven’t seen the 2019 printing, but I like the texture and color of this paper a lot. It doesn’t have a glare like my TCR from a few years ago. It could be slightly more opaque, but I could live with it.
I bought one based on this review. I bought the Turquoise Reference. I will say, it is a the nicest bible I own. I own a number of Schuyler bibles, three Allans, and several Cambridges, and the quality of this bible meets or exceeds them all. Not even Allan produces a cover as nice as the AA Leather full yap cover on my CBP bible. The leather is thicker, and the liner nicer, than anything I’ve seen on any Allan. And the edge is stitched. As far as the book block goes, the paper is thick, its opaque, and the print is clear, sharp and very dark. There is no intentional line-matching, as far as I can tell, but the the lines appear to match up nicely anyway – perhaps by accident. The paper is opaque enough that there is very little, insignificant even, show-through.
The red lettering is dark and crisp. There is no fading to a lighter shade of red in some areas that one sees in some other red-letter bibles. All the red lettering is equally dark and crisp. As far as the book block goes, the edges are cut cleanly and apparently sanded very smooth, so there is no wavy appearance in the gilding. The book edge is as smooth and the gilding as nice as anything I’ve seem coming out of Jongbloed, who does Schuyler, and some Cambridge and Allan book blocks. There is no color under the edge gilding. It’s just gold. On this bible, I like that. It goes nicely with the cover. Also, except for the nationality of the Water Buffalo that gave its life for this bible, it is all American made. Not terribly important to me, but its nice that there is an American bible maker out there that can produce a bible that meets or exceeds the gold-standard bibles produced in the Netherlands. This bible is, by any measure, a premium bible. On top of that, its built well enough that I am not content to add it to a collection of premium bibles I have stacked, in their boxes, on my book shelf, while I use a cheaper bibles daily. This bible will become my main working, carry bible. It feels like it will last a lifetime. Any scuffs on the cover, like on a nice pair of cowboy boots, will just add character. The leather is thick enough to take it. So, I give my CBP Turquoise bible with full yap cover 5 our of 5 stars. To me, it is perfect in every way.
Thanks Rowland! I’m a fan of the CBP Turquoise. The full yapp edition sounds like a great choice for a life-time Bible.
Another awesome review, Randy! AA Leather really outdid themselves with this one. I just purchased the Thompson Chain and am admiring it here before it arrives. Thanks for your detailed and informative reviews… even for those of us who are here just to admire. 🙂
Thank you!!
I just received this Bible in the mail and it is very nice. I’m looking forward to using it. Any thoughts on why the Index to the Scripture Atlas was omitted? Do you know if this is the case with all printings of the Fifth Improved Edition? I’ve emailed Kirkbride to see if they’ll share a PDF of the Index to the Scripture Atlas with me so I can use it as a supplement. I’ll let you know what they say.