We got some exciting news today from Zondervan about the future of the Thompson Chain Reference Bible.
Zondervan, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, has acquired the Thompson Chain-Reference Bible product assets from the Kirkbride Bible Company.
The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible is a well known and much beloved topical study Bible. It has been in publication for more than 100 years. Dr. Frank Charles Thompson began working on the “chain-links” that are the foundation of this Bible in 1890. The first edition was published in 1908. It has been updated periodically and now contains over 100,000 references and well as maps and other helpful features to help individuals or groups study the Bible.
The Thompson Chain Reference Bible has had availability issues lately. Many Bible readers were afraid it might cease to be published. Michael Gage, president and CEO of Kirkbride, is glad that Zondervan Bibles will honor the legacy of Dr. Thompson and make the Thompson Chain Reference Bible more widely available now and in the future.
Zondervan plans to start shipping Thompson Chain-Reference Bibles with their brand in May of 2021. They plan to have new editions of the Bible using their Comfort Print fonts available by May 2022.