Released in 2005, the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is a revision of the King James by Professor David Norton. It’s currently available in the NCPB Personal Size edition (which I recently reviewed). The original edition is out of print, but Cambridge does still have a few in stock. In this review, I’ll take a look at the original edition and show what’s different from the Personal Size edition. This edition is French Morocco with Apocrypha, ISBN: 978-0521843871, made in the UK.
Special Offer from Cambridge
There are a few copies still available from Cambridge!
They’ll sell them at a special price of $140 (£95) while stocks last.
Orders will be taken manually. To order, contact bibles@cambridge.org. Include the number of copies you want and include a phone number and time when they can call.
They’ll have to manually adjust inventory and handle the sale, so the process will take longer than a normal order. It could take a week to hear from the bookshop once you place the order.
Video Review
Amendments
There were some amendments after this edition was printed. You can see what those changes were in Cambridge’s table of corrections and amendments. Those amendments are reflected in the personal size edition that I reviewed previously. Professor Norton discusses the revision in my interview with him: David Norton Interview.
Cover and Binding
The cover is French Morocco with a paste-down liner. It’s shiny and has a stamped grain. It’s hard to the touch and has a tough look and feel. The liner looks interesting. It looks like leatherette and has a leather grain. The cover stays open with no trouble.
It has nothing printed on the front. The spine has THE NEW CAMBRIDGE PARAGRAPH BIBLE WITH THE APOCRYPHA, King James Version, the official seal, and CAMBRIDGE printed in gold. Five spine ridges are etched into the spine. It’s Smyth sewn and has no problems staying open to any page out of the box. It has 1 black ribbon and red and yellow head/tail bands.
The overall size is 10.5 x 7.37 x 2″ and it weighs 4 lbs. This is a large Bible. It’s the size of a very large study Bible. It isn’t a Bible I would carry (the personal size is perfect for that), but I don’t find it to be too large for reading at a desk or holding it in my lap. It’s also great for preaching.
It comes in a slipcase that has the box art on the front and back. It matches the dust jacket on the hardcover edition. It’s fairly sturdy. It’s meant to allow the Bible to stand upright on a shelf. I kind of think the weight of this text-block would be better to lay it down to prevent the spine from sagging.
Paper
The paper is 40 gsm OP Opaque from Finland. It’s extremely opaque and is ivory in color. It has a dull finish (which I prefer) and no glare under direct light. This paper is easy to grab and turn with one hand. The contrast of the paper with the text is perfect for long periods of reading. This is easily some of the best paper I’ve seen in a Bible. It’s excellent for reading, marking, notes, drawing, etc.
Typography
The text is a larger version of the Personal Size edition. The font is 10-point Swift with a 12.5 point leading. The page is much larger than other single-column editions with the same size typeface. The reason for this is this Bible has a lot more white space between the words and the lines, creating a much cleaner layout. The extra whitespace is more noticeable than the Personal edition. This is one of the cleanest and easiest-reading single column editions I’ve seen.
This edition has a little bit of room for notes. Even though they’re in the inner margin, the space for them is large enough to write your own notes without much trouble. The inner margin is 1.75″ and the outer margin is .6″. Most of the books start on a new page. This leaves several blank pages on the left side that can be used for notes, lists, sermon outlines, prayer requests, etc.
Apocrypha
Unlike the Personal edition, which is available with or without the Apocrypha, this edition was only available with it. The Apocryphal books are added between the testaments and are numbered separately. Of course, this adds to the size. I’d love to see this Bible available without it for those that prefer not to have it.
Comparisons
Here’s a look at how the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible compares to the Personal Size New Cambridge Paragraph Bible and the Clarion.
Personal Size New Cambridge Paragraph Bible
The personal size edition has the updates I mentioned earlier. The features are the same- just smaller. This edition makes a great carry companion to the larger edition, this edition of the personal size doesn’t have the Apocrypha, but it is available with Apocrypha if you prefer.
Clarion
The Clarion is a reference edition, but I wanted to show it for size comparison.
Ending Thoughts on the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible
The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is a large Bible (it’s just a touch larger than most large study Bibles), but it’s still easy to use at a desk or in the pulpit. I’d LOVE to see this Bible brought back, both with and without the Apocrypha, but with 28gsm paper. It would still have a large footprint, but it would be much lighter and easier to carry. At first, the text seems small for the size of this Bible, but when you see it sitting next to another single column edition, even one with a larger print, it’s evident that the text is actually cleaner and has more white-space.
The paper and print quality are outstanding. The French Morocco cover is a little stiff, but that’s probably a good thing considering this Bible’s size. It opens beautifully. This is an excellent edition for reading. I preached from it several times and it’s great for public reading. There were a couple of times that it took me a few extra seconds to find a verse, but I was able to find them without too much of a pause.
I recommend New Cambridge Paragraph Bible (in either regular size or personal size) to every KJV reader and especially to anyone that’s used to modern layouts but are new to the KJV.
________________________________________
To purchase from Cambridge for $140 (£95), contact bibles@cambridge.org. Include the number of copies you want and include a phone number and time when they can call.
________________________________________
Cambridge provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest review. My opinions are my own.
Do you own the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.