Dayspring and Illustrated Faith’s CSB Illustrating Bible is specifically designed for large scale art journaling. With extra thick paper and the largest margins currently on the market, you are sure to have plenty of room for all your creative responses to God’s Word.
ISBN: 9781684081042
This Bible was purchased for review.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and a few local Bible bookstores
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Video Review
Construction & Materials
The Illustrating Bible has a faux leather cover in a slightly shimmery dusty rose color with foil-stamped detailing.
It has a coppery colored thick wire spiral binding. This wire binding means it lays flat while in use.
The endpapers are a teal faux suede with the first 5 words of Genesis inside the front cover and the last 10 words of Revelation inside the back cover.
The pages are 9 1/4″ x 9 1/4″ but the entire Bible measures 11″ x 9 1/2″ and is nearly 2 inches thick.
Dayspring states the paper is 75% thicker than the typical journaling Bible. This most likely puts the gsm in the upper 60s. It is a nice soft white color that is white enough to not alter the color of art products but not so bright it is wearing on your eyes.
It comes in a premium 2 part keepsake box that measures 11 3/4″ x 13 3/4″ x 2 1/2″. The box is made of thick cardboard and has what they call telescoping sides. This means that even if your Bible becomes a little thicker than the bottom half of the box it should still stay together fairly well and protect your Bible when the box is closed.
This is a large Bible that’s designed more for use on a desk or table than for carrying. The Bible weighs just over 5 pounds on its own and the Bible and box together weigh just short of 7 pounds.
Typography & Layout
The CSB Illustrating Bible has a single column paragraph format with poetry set in stanzas. Larger quotes, letters, and lists are also offset. Like most CSB Bibles it has section headings.
The font is an 8 point sans serif. It is black letter at a medium darkness that is consistent throughout. The text is set in 4 1/2″ inch wide columns that contain an average of about 19 words across. 8 point is never going to be considered a large font. But this text seems smaller than it really is at first to a lot of people because of how large each page is. This highlighting is done with Illustrated Faith’s Highlight It Washi Tape as a point of reference.
Quotes from other parts of the Bible are done in bold. There are no references.
The header has the book name with the numbers of any chapters found, in whole or part, on that page over the outer edge of the text and the page number next to it over the inner edge of the margin.
The numbering system has all the numbers to the side instead of within the text. Chapter numbers are bolder and larger than verse numbers. Verse numbers are next to the line the verse starts in and some lines have the beginning of more than one verse. Numbers off to the side tend to make for a more immersive reading experience.
Books always begin on a new page. The name of the book is printed in a large bold hand lettering style sideways down the margin.
Margins
The margins are one of the main features of this Bible. A full 3 3/4″ wide, these are the largest margins I know of in any Bible. That means a full 3 3/4″ x 9 1/4″ (almost 35 square inches) of blank space to fill with words, lettering, paint, drawings, stickers and anything else your heart leads you to use as you respond to what you’ve read. Enough space to letter long verses, draw more complicated charts, respond to multiple verses, use more colors, draw your own maps, or anything else you have ever run out of room for in your smaller journaling Bibles.
While I’ll admit to being slightly intimidated by that much blank space at first, I am really looking forward to spending time with this Bible and having much more room to work with.
I had originally intended to include some examples of my own journaling in this post. I’m currently planning and praying about 3 different entries. I decided to post it without artwork because I wanted the review up while I was sure my readers could purchase one and I don’t feel like I’m giving proper reverence to God’s Word if I rush my journal entries. I’m now planning a second post for this Bible when I have between 4 and 6 entries using different mediums finished. I’m hoping to time that post with the next batch of this Bible if this run sells out quickly.
Final Thoughts on the CSB Illustrating Bible
This Bible isn’t for everyone. It is a bit large to be easy to carry and there are a lot of people who don’t want this large of a Bible unless it also has jumbo print.
I cannot, however, currently imagine a better Bible for journaling in. Huge margins, very thick paper, and a lay-flat binding that will accommodate a lot of additions make it a perfect Bible for those who spend time responding to God’s Word with pictures and writing. If you are a dedicated Bible journaler and don’t already own one, the CSB Illustrating Bible needs to be on your wish list.
At the time this article was posted Dayspring had this Bible in stock but maybe not for long. It sold out before Christmas and only recently came back in stock. The only other places you might be able to find one currently would be a local Bible bookstore or overpriced on eBay. For those who are looking for one, I’m planning on updating the purchase links on this post to help you find them until Dayspring gets far enough ahead of demand that they became widely available.
The rose-colored version of this Bible is no longer in production and as such is only available through secondary markets like eBay. An edition of this Bible with a dark green cover is available through Dayspring and many Bible bookstores. There are a few minor changes (most notably the book names in the margins) but it is basically the same Bible. The Illustrating Bible is also now available in the NIV translation with either a light pink or dark gray cover.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and a few local Bible bookstores
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Would love it for my wife, and it is a wonderful journaling bible. But the price is still steep and best available during the Christmas or Easter season. At Lifeway store it was 79.00, as opposed to 99.00 till they ran out.