Baker’s Personal Size Giant Print Reference Edition KJV – Bible Review

Baker’s KJV Personal Size Giant Print Reference Bible Hardcover has a lot of features in a handy size. It seeks to offer a combination of giant print along with features typically found in reference Bibles. Is has a few twists that I think set it apart and make it an excellent Bible for reading, carry, and preaching. I’m reviewing the hard cover edition.

Photography by hannah C brown

Binding

This edition is hard cover. The cover itself contains the product info, so there’s no dust jacket. The construction feels well-made.

It has a sewn binding and has no issues lying flat. I like the way it lies open. The spine of the textblock bends upward when it’s open and the spine of the cover stays flat. This raises the inner margin and allows the pages to lay flatter. This is much better than the spine staying down and the pages bending downward, causing the inner margin to be lost in the bend.

The overall size is 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.75.

Paper

The paper is thin with a white tone. It does have some show-through, which is to be expected for how thin it is, but it’s not too much. The text is much easier to read where the lines match. It’s noticeable where the lines don’t match, but it’s still readable and isn’t so distracting that I wouldn’t use it.

Typography

The text is set in double-column verse by verse format and it has some interesting features.

The typeface is 12.5 with a generous leading. This edition is red-letter. The black and red are a medium/dark font that’s consistent throughout and easy to read. The red goes through Revelation. I like the style of font they use in this.

It has pronunciation marks to show syllabus and emphasis. These can be helpful on difficult words. Unfortunately they’re also on common names such as Jesus, Peter, David, etc.

Chapter numbers are in drop-cap as normal, but it includes a verse number for verse one. This almost looks a little awkward at first because it’s different. It doesn’t really make any difference one way or the other.

Each verse is indented, making it easier to find verses. Paragraphs are marked with pilcrows. There are lots of section headings. I prefer this. It has a heading for each day of creation. They’re printed in bold.

The header contains the book name, chapter number, and verse number printed on the outer margin. The page number is centered. The header is divided from the text by a black line.

 

References are placed in the footer. This gets them out of the way and keeps the text from having to share column width. The text does not include reference keys. I prefer this because it keeps the text cleaner and easy to read. The references are separated from the text by a black line that only covers the first reference.

The margins are smaller than most Bibles this size. It would be difficult to write much in the margins. Books start on a new page. I like this because that leaves some space for notes.

References

References are placed in the footer and show the chapter and verse numbers in bold. I love this format. It keeps the text clean but still makes the references easy to find. Using the footer would allow for as many references as you want. Unfortunately though, there aren’t that many of them.

Genesis 1:1 – Ps 33:6; 136:5; Ac 14:15; 17:24; Heb 11:3

Matthew 17:20 – Lk 17:6

Mark 11:23 – 0

John 1:1 – 0

1 John 1:1 – 0

As you can see it isn’t loaded down with references. It does have what is typical of personal size giant print editions, as they focus more on the text than references.

Book Introductions and Outlines

Book introductions take around a half page and include information about the author, setting, key events, repeated phrases, key verses, etc. The outlines are very simple and cover the major events of each book. These are helpful for getting a quick overview of the book.

Indexes

There are three lists of roughly a page each. They include:

• Key Bible Promises
• Miracles of Jesus
• Parables of Jesus

These are useful for personal study and devotions.

Reading Plans

There are two reading plans. The first takes you through the Bible in one year in biblical order. The second is a 100-day reading plan that gives you an overview of the Bible in 100 readings.

Concordance

The concordance is 99 pages set in double-column format. The verses include variations on the word. These are shown by making the variant word in bold italic within the verse. Here are some example entries with their counts.

• Christ – 23
• Christian – 2
• Faith – 65
• Faithful – 2
• Faithfulness – 3
• Faithless – 1
• God – 14
• Godhead – 1
• Godly – 7
• Praise – 9
• Pray – 18
• Prayer – 15

The concordance has more in it than most personal size giant print editions that I’ve seen.

Maps

There are 8 pages of maps in thick non-glossy paper. There are 7 maps total and they’re mostly earth-tones in color and include routes, topography, rivers, and borders. It doesn’t have an index to maps. The maps are labeled well and are easy to use. They show the books of the Bible that they relate to. They include:

1. World of Genesis
2. Egypt, Canaan, and the Transjordan
3. Conquest and Settlement of the Promised Land
4. The United Monarchy
5. Promised Land During the Time of Jesus
6. Paul’s Missionary Journeys
7. Jerusalem at the Time of Jesus

Using It

I’ve used this Bible for reading, general carry, and for preaching. It worked great for all three. I thought the thin pages would be difficult to turn but they didn’t give me much trouble. There are times when the show-through became a little distracting and made it slightly more difficult to read, but overall it wasn’t bad enough to make me put it down. The section headings help a lot for preaching because I could glance at the page and have an idea of the setting and context.

Conclusion

Baker’s KJV Personal Size Giant Print Reference Bible Hardcover is an excellent Bible. It does fall short on references. Considering how easy the text is to read and how many section headings there are, and the placement of the references in the footer, I find it more useful as a reader than for study. It’s more helpful as a text edition than a reference edition. The pronunciation marks seem to be overdone because of their use with common names, but I do find them helpful on less common names. It’s an excellent Bible for reading and carry.

Baker Publishing provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest review. My opinions are my own.