Church Bible Publishers has just released a new Bible that goes back to an older design. It’s the Interleaved Bible, which, as the name suggests, places a page for notes between every page of Bible text. This is the text from the LCBP Slimline with a wide outer margin and interleaved pages added. The Slimline has 888 pages. With a few extra note pages in the front and back, this provides around 900 pages for notes. In this review, I’ll take a look at the Church Bible Publishers KJV Interleaved Bible in black calfskin with white threads, item #340, printed and bound in the USA. I’ll also compare to several wide margin editions from CBP.
Church Bible Publishers 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 Church Bible Publishers
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Table of Contents
Video Review
Cover and Binding
The cover of my review copy is black ironed calfskin with white threads. This is a three-piece cover with the front and back sewn onto the middle piece with white threads. It also has white threads around the perimeter. The calfskin is smooth from the ironing process, but it does have a little bit of grain that gives it some visual texture. It’s highly flexible. Nothing is printed on the front. The spine has the text printed in gold and includes 5 raised ribs.
It has a synthetic edge-lined liner and the text-block is Smyth sewn. The edge-lined tab was a little stiff out of the box, but it does stay open in Genesis. It has several thick end-sheets in the front and back to help give it structure.
It includes two 1/4″ black ribbons and black and white head/tail bands. The ribbons are long enough to pull them to the corner to open the Bible. The 1/4″ width is thin enough to not get in the way when reading or preaching. The overall size is 6 3/4 x 9 13/16 x 1 3/4″ at the spine, the block itself is 1 1/2″, which is 1/8″ thinner than the Notetakers. It weighs 2 lbs, 15.3 oz. This is great for using it at a desk or pulpit.
It will also be available in milk chocolate water buffalo (my personal favorite CBP leather, but I haven’t seen cranberry water buffalo), black lambskin (my second favorite CBP leather), and ironed calfskin in several colors including black, blue, red, and brown.
Paper
The paper is 22# (33 gsm). This paper is thinner than I’d like for writing, but with just under 1800 pages it makes sense to use a thinner paper. It’s white in color and it’s highly opaque for how thin it is. It has a slightly rough texture that makes it easier to turn the pages. There is a touch of glare under direct light, but it isn’t enough to bother me. The edges are a gold-gilt.
This is an interleaved edition, meaning that it has a page for notes between every page of Bible text. The interleaved pages also have a wide margin. It also has another 14 pages in the back for notes or to create a sermon index if you use the interleaved pages for sermon outlines. The lines are faint, so they don’t get in the way of your notes.
If one column was moved to the interleaved page it would be the equivalent of a single column wide margin with a 4.5″ margin. By comparison, the Notetakers is a single column wide margin with a 2.5″ margin. So, you get a wider margin for the smaller font and the note space has 26 lines.
This makes the Interleaved Bible an excellent Bible for references, word studies, outlines, bullet points, adding your own commentary, insights into the text, adding your own studies, adding artwork, journaling, writing sermon notes, etc. I think it’s best suited for sermon outlines and articles.
This paper is good for Pigma Microns and similar pens. I plan to use different colors to see which have the least amount of show-through. I also plan to use coloring pencils and dry highlighters that are made for Bible marking. As always, I recommend testing pens, pencils, and highlighters on the paper in the back first.
Typography
The text is presented in a double-column verse-by-verse layout with a 1″ outer margin. Both columns are separated from each other by a verticle line. The header includes the book name and chapter number in the outer margin. The footer has the page numbers in the center. Pilcrows mark paragraphs. It doesn’t include the page summaries at the top that you’d see in many KJV’s.
The typeface is 9-point. The lower-case letters are small, so it looks similar to the Cameo’s 8-point font. This is a modern font that’s about a medium/dark. It’s sharp and easy to read. The print quality is highly consistent throughout. This is a black-letter edition. It doesn’t include self-pronouncing marks. It does place supplied words in italics. I find it highly readable. This is an excellent text for preaching or teaching as long as you don’t need a large print.
It has around 8-10 words per line with a good amount of space between the line. The text never feels cramped or crowded. Most of the pages have line-matching, meaning the text is printed on the same line on both sides. Philemon and Jude do not match. Those that do are easy to read. For those that don’t, the show-through stands out. It has a good amount of space between the lines for underlining. Each book starts on a new page, so you have some space for notes at the end of several books. This keeps you from having to share an interleaved page between books.
The margins are: bottom – 0.5″, inside – 0.375″, outside – 1.125″, top – 0.5″. It has a wide outer margin for notes. The inner margin is small. Fortunately, the text doesn’t bend a little into the gutter. I wouldn’t mind if the text was centered on the page to have a larger inner margin. This would give us space to make a small note next to the text on the inner margin, in case you want to point to a sermon outline or note on another page.
Other Pages
The Interleaved Bible includes the same Cambridge presentation and family pages in the front as the other editions I’ve seen from CBP. It’s printed on thick paper and includes the presentation page, the family record of the husband and wife, children, marriages, grandchildren, and deaths. Most have blue and gold highlights. The page for deaths has black and gold highlights.
It also includes the Translators to the Reader and the Epistle Dedicatory to James. I’m glad to see the Translators to the Reader included. This is an important document that every KJV reader should read.
Maps
It has 15 full-color Cambridge maps printed on thick non-glossy paper. The annotations on the maps are dark but they’re not as bold as with previous editions I’ve seen from CBP. They’re much easier to read than previous editions. This is a welcome improvement. Maps include cities, routes, Scripture references, distance, mountains, territorial expansions with dates, topography, kingdoms, battle sites, locations of events, addressees of Pauline epistles, etc.
It also includes the index to maps, which I consider essential. I’m glad to see it’s included.
Maps include:
- Biblical World of the Patriarchs
- Palestine: Political Regions
- Route of the Exodus
- Twelve Tribes of Israel
- Kingdoms of Saul, David & Solomon
- Divided Kingdom: Israel & Judah
- Assyrian Empire
- Babylonian Empire
- The Greek Empire
- Old Testament Jerusalem
- New Testament Jerusalem
- Ministry of Jesus
- Missionary Journeys of Paul
- Spread of Christianity
- Modern Israel
Comparisons
Here’s a look at how the CBP Interleaved Bible compares to several wide margin editions from Church Bible Publishers.
CBP Notetakers
The Notetakers is almost the same size (same footprint and spine width, but the text-block is 1/8″ thicker). It’s a different design. Features include an 11-point font in a single column with a 2.5″ outer margin. It does not include a concordance. The Notetakers is a great choice for everyday use, study, and preaching. I think its strength is for small notes next to the verses, while the Interleaved is better suited for sermon outlines. For an edition with an even larger margin, see the CBP Journaling Bible.
CBP Wide Margin Reference
CBP Wide Margin Reference is a wide margin version of the hand size Turquoise. It has a 9-point font with a bold text, a 1″ wide margin for the top and bottom, a 1 1/2″outer margin, center-column references, concordance, dictionary, and maps. The overall size is the same.
CBP Wide Margin Cameo
The CBP Wide Margin Cameo is a wide margin version of the Cambridge Cameo. Features include an 8-point font, center-column references, and 1″ margins on all four sides. It doesn’t have a concordance but it does have maps. It’s a much smaller Bible, but the print is the same size. It’s my favorite choice for a wide margin for carry.
Conclusion
The Church Bible Publishers’ KJV Interleaved Bible is an excellent Bible for adding your thoughts, word studies, sermon outlines, artwork, and lots more. Although the text is small, it’s sharp and readable. Using the SlimLine for this was a wise decision. An interleaved Bible needs a lot of Scripture on a page in order to keep the size of the Bible down. Just under 1800 pages is a good target and the thickness of this Bible feels balanced. More than this would be too large in my opinion.
If I could change one thing, I’d center the text on the page. This would give space around the text to add page numbers where verses are dealt with in the notes. This is just a minor detail, though. I won’t let it keep me from using it.
CBP’s Interleaved Bible is a well-made Bible and it’s especially a good deal at its price-point. I’d also love to see this Bible available without the interleaved pages as the two would make a great combo. If you need a solid Bible with 904 pages for notes, the CBP Interleaved Bible is a great choice.
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This Bible is available at Church Bible Publishers
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Church Bible Publishers 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.
Thank you for the detailed reviews, Randy.
In your opinion, which interleaved Bible (KJV, ESV, NKJV) has the best paper for minimizing see-through of the ink/notes?