The Holman Handcrafted KJV Single-Column Wide Margin Bible is similar to their KJV Pastor’s Bible. It has the same layout, but it doesn’t include the pastor’s helps and adds a list of verses in the back. The page numbering is different, but the layout is identical. All the extra page elements are printed in red. I do have an issue with the goatskin cover, unfortunately. This is ISBN 9781087758046, printed in Korea.
Holman provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Table of Contents
Video Review
Binding
The cover is black goatskin leather. It’s extra-soft and has a pronounced pebbly grain. This leather is highly flexible. It has perimeter stitching with nothing printed on the front. The spine includes three spine indications dry-stamped into the leather. The text is stamped in gold. It doesn’t seem to be glued to the liner at the edge of the spine. I only noticed it because I was inspecting the cover.
The liner is edge-lined leather and includes a gilt line around the inside. The block is sewn and has no trouble staying open in Genesis. The spine is square and wider than the block. I’m not sure if this was on purpose, but it does allow the center of the text block to rise higher when opened, creating a flatter page. It does look as if it could tear at the edge-lined tab, though. The build quality is not as high as the CSB Handcrafted series.
It has three double-sided 3/8″ ribbons in black, red, and gold. They’re long enough to pull to the corner to open the Bible easily. They’re a touch stiff and they’ve kept their curled shape from when they were on the ribbon roll. The overall size is 7 x 9 3/4 x 2″ and weighs 3 lbs, 3 oz.
Paper
The paper seems to be the same 36 GSM Hadley White with an 85 opacity rating that’s used in the CSB Handcrafted series. It’s an extremely opaque paper and it’s a great choice for a wide-margin Bible. It’s off-white in color and has no glare under direct light. The texture is rough enough to be easy to grab and turn. It’s excellent for notes and highlighting. This is easily some of my favorite paper in any Bible, making this Bible worth getting for the paper alone. In the back are 4 blank pages that can be used for notes. The page edges are art-gilt with red under gold. The red is noticeably darker than the CSB.
Typography and Layout
This is a text-only edition with no section headings, cross-references, or footnotes. The text is presented in a verse-by-verse single-column layout. The header shows the book name and chapters that appear on that page in the outer margin. Page numbers are placed in the center. Page summaries appear in the inner margin. The header text, chapter numbers, and verse numbers are in red. The layout is beautiful for verse-by-verse with no other formatting.
The font is 10.5-point. This is a red-letter edition. Both the black and the red are dark and consistent. It’s printed with line matching, meaning that the lines of print are located in the same place on both sides of the page. Show-through is barely noticeable. Pilcrows are used to mark paragraphs. The text includes italics for supplied words. This text is excellent for reading and preaching.
It has around 14 words per line. I’d normally think this was too many words, but the text has a lot of inner margin space that brings the text out to the flat part of the page. It also has enough space between the lines, so I don’t lose my place. I do tend to use my finger to help keep my place when preaching.
Margin Space
It has a 1-inch outer margin. This isn’t a lot of space for notes, but you can get a few references, short definitions, section headings, topic names, symbols, etc. It’s not ideal if you want a lot of margin space, but it’s a great choice if you just want a little space for notes. This lets you write a few notes here and there and not feel like you’re carrying around wide margins that you don’t need.
Where to Turn
Where to Turn is a 2-page list of verses to use for certain situations that we often face. Situations include sin, worry, anger, fear of failure, and lots more. This is a good list and it’s especially helpful since there are no other references. This list is not found in the Pastor’s Bible.
Concordance
The concordance is 58 pages with 3 columns per page. It includes names of people and places and character studies. It has fewer entries than the Pastor’s Bible, which has 88 pages. It does have enough for basic study. The character studies make it an excellent starting point for study and sermon prep. Here are a few example entries with their number of references to help you compare:
- Christ – 6
- Christian – 3
- Faith – 40
- Faithful – 24
- Faithless – 2
- God – 40
- Godhead – 2
- Godliness – 5
- Godly – 4
- Gods – 7
- Praise – 7
- Pray – 17
- Prayer – 12
Bible Atlas
It includes 8 full-color maps on thick non-glossy paper. These are the recent maps from Holman and that have the darker colors that I like. The maps are clean and easy to read. They have large areas without text and are annotated well. This helps make them easy to use. It doesn’t include an index to maps. The maps include distance, topography, mountain peaks, routes, cities, major roads, Scripture references, location on the globe, kingdoms, locations of events, dates, etc. It even has a possible Red Sea crossing.
Maps include:
- The Migration of Abraham
- The Route of the Exodus
- The Tribal Allotments of Israel
- The Kingdoms of Israel and Judah
- Israel in the Time of Jesus
- The Ministry of Jesus Around the Sea of Galilee
- The Passion Week in Jerusalem
- Paul’s Missionary Journeys
Comparisons
Here’s a look at how the Handcrafted KJV compares to several similar Bibles.
KJV Pastor’s Bible
Holman’s KJV Pastor’s Bible has the same page layout. The page numbering is different because it includes pastor’s helps. It has thinner paper, but not bad paper. The Bible itself is thinner, which I think makes it better for carrying. It does not include the list of Where to Turn, but it has a larger concordance. It isn’t available in goatskin. It’s a great alternative if you don’t mind having the pastor’s helps between Psalms and Proverbs.
KJV Store Notetaker’s
The KJV Store Notetaker’s is also a single-column, wide margin, text-only KJV in red letter. It has a 2.5″ outer margin with 10 words per line. The paper is slightly thinner and the print is not as dark as the Holman. The paper is smooth, making it more difficult to turn than the Holman. It has maps, but no concordance.
CSB Handcrafted Single Column Wide Margin
The Handcrafted KJV follows a similar design to the Handcrafted CSB Single Column Wide Margin. The paper seems to be the same, but the leather and build of the CSB are of higher quality than the KJV. The CSB has a paragraph layout with a poetic setting.
NASB Stridon
The Schuyler NASB Stridon has a similar layout with the exception of a poetic setting, section headings, and references. I wanted to show how they’re similar. The Stridon was made in the Netherlands by Royal Jongbloed and is in a higher price range. The quality of materials and construction is reflected in the difference in price.
Conclusion
Overall, I like the Holman Handcrafted KJV Single Column Wide Margin Bible. This is one of my favorite text blocks. The print and paper are excellent. The goatskin cover is of lower quality than I expected. I think it would need to be rebound later down the road. If you’re okay with that, then this text block is easily worth getting. Hopefully, the next run will have better construction.
_________________________________________________________
This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Holman provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
Hello Randy,
Blessings! Thank you for all the work you do in presenting Bibles for us to preview. I’m looking for a single column Kjv wide margin or slightly wide that also has some references and especially subheadings. Do you know if such a Bible exists?
Thank you for any direction you can provide.
Mark
Hi Mark. The closest to this that I’m aware of is the Premier Collection KJV Personal Size Large Print Reference Bible from Thomas Nelson. It’s slightly wide.