From the top – Cambridge Clarion, Holman Large Print Ultra Thin, Schuyler Single Column, Schuyler Quentel, Schuyler Quentel ESV, Cambridge Wide Margin
The Schuyler NKJV Quentel is one of the few high quality NKJV’s available. It’s a premium edition produced by Jongbloed in the Netherlands to the highest standards. The NKJV Quentel boasts 36gsm paper, art-gilt edges, 11-point font, red-letter, goatskin cover with edge-lined real leather liner, spine ridges, 3 luxurious ribbons, 12 new maps by Dr. Barry J. Beitzel, index to maps, cross references in the footer, NKJV footnotes and section headings, and a large concordance. It’s available in both red and black letter and in several covers including black, dark green, dark brown, imperial blue, and firebrick red.
Price: $222.00 | Buy from Evangelical Bible
In all of these comparisons the NKJV Quentel is on the left.
Schuyler ESV Quentel
This is the first generation ESV Quentel. The color of the paper is slightly different between the two. The NKJV has a slightly more cream tone which I prefer to the white of the 38gsm in the first edition ESV. The NKJV is slightly thinner, has a leather lining, and spine hubs. The ESV is black letter.
Holman Large Print Ultra Thin
The Holman Large Print Ultra Thin NKJV is verse by verse with poetry in stanzas and letters indented, has a 9-point font, red-letter, thinner paper, and a thinner text block. It’s a semi-premium Bible that’s a great choice for someone on a budget or looking for something smaller and lighter than the Quentel. However, the typeset is smaller and feels more cramped.
Cambridge Clarion
The Cambridge NKJV Clarion is a hand-size edition in single column with much thinner paper and a smaller black-letter font at 8.75. It’s a great choice for something that easy to carry. The thin pages will have page-curl issues if the airflow is right. I love the Clarion for private reading but for preaching I have trouble finding verse numbers and sometimes I read the wrong line due to the wider column that bends into the gutter. I might give the Clarion the advantage in the poetic settings because of the single column. Although, because of the attention to detail the Quentel has a beautiful double-column poetic setting.
Cambridge Wide Margin
The Cambridge NKJV Wide Margin is wider but is thinner and has a smaller red-letter font at 7.9. Its 38gsm paper is made for writing. They’re comparable in overall size and weight but the Cambridge has to sacrifice font size for margin space, making the Quentel far more readable.
Schuyler Single Column NKJV
The Schuyler Single Column NKJV is of course a single column setting. It doesn’t have cross references and it only has a single heading at the beginning of each chapter. It has a 10.5 black-letter font and 32gsm paper. It’s a great choice if you want a single-column setting in large print. It even has a little bit of margin space. As much as I like it, if I could only choose one it would be the Quentel for its elegant setting and tools.
Thoughts
Overall the Schuyler NKJV Quentel is a well-designed Bible that fills a much-needed gap for the NKJV translation. There are only a few good choices available and with its paper, print, and cover, the Quentel stands alone in providing a luxury reference edition in large print.
Price: $222.00 | Buy from Evangelical Bible
How do you think the NKJV Quentel compares?