Cambridge Heritage BCP and KJV - a review

The Book of Common Prayer + the King James Version = The Heritage Edition

To celebrate the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer and the 400th anniversary of the 1611 King James Version of the Bible, Cambridge University Press has published the Heritage Edition, which brings these two treasures together in one beautiful book.

A key event in the English Reformation was the publication in 1549 of the first Book of Common Prayer.  It was then revised several times until the final version was published in 1662, and this is the edition from which all other Anglican prayer books descend.  The Christian faith expressed throughout this classic work is eloquent and passionate; the clarion call of the gospel rings out on every page.  Cambridge has published the BCP since 1628 and in 2004 reset the book in a modern, clear font, with an elegant page design.

This shows the different font sizes in the BCP and the minimum of show-through.

The Heritage combines the Enlarged Edition of this new setting of the BCP with the just-published Second Edition of the Pitt Minion Reference Bible. This differs from the original Pitt Minion in three important ways: the text is printed in paragraph style rather than verse-by-verse; black letter rather than red letter is used for the words of Christ; and, like the new editions of the BCP, it has been reset in a font called Lexicon Number 1.  For those of us familiar with the older editions of the BCP and the KJV Pitt Minion, the reset editions look both new and timeless - as if the family silver has been polished for the first time in years!

Here you can see how the KJV Pitt Minion prints book titles, prose and poetry.

I think good paper stock is crucial in anything as important as a prayer book or Bible.  The reader doesn’t want to be distracted by the words on the other side of the page.  The Heritage is printed on relatively opaque 45gsm Primapage paper made by the French company PDL (Papeteries du Lemain) and bound in Italy by L.E.G.O. SpA, Vicenza.  There is no page-curling and very little show-through.  In the BCP the font size is 11.6 point; in the KJV it’s 6.75/7 point.  

The stand-alone Enlarged Edition of the BCP is printed on similar if not identical paper, but the new separate KJV Pitt Minion uses the thinner 27gsm Indolux paper - so anyone eyeing a Pitt Minion might be tempted to buy a Heritage for the sturdier paper, not to mention the inclusion of a BCP!

The Second Edition of the KJV Pitt Minion found in the Heritage is a wonder of compactness: the entire Bible in a double-column setting, with thousands of cross-references, runs to just 969 pages.  (By comparison, the single-column Cambridge Clarion prints the same content over 1826 pages; it uses the same font, but in 8.75 point.)  

Though the Pitt Minion’s print is small, it’s sharp, clear and even.  The references run down the center of the page between the two columns, there are no section headings to interrupt the biblical text and it is printed with good line-matching.  Each book begins where the last one ended, not at the top of a new page.  Also included: The Epistle Dedicatory to King James and two blue ribbons.

The Heritage comes in a choice of three bindings: black calf-split, purple calf-split and hardcover.  The leather is at the stiff-and-slippery end of the spectrum, not soft-and-supple, but this gives the Heritage’s many pages good support.  This thick, compact book (5 1/4 x 7 7/16 x 1 7/8 inches) fits the hand nicely and is ideal for prayer book services and private devotions.  It is so convenient to have a BCP and KJV in one place - and the cardboard slipcase will protect it well.  

I’m trying to think of something I don’t like about the Heritage Edition!  Ah, here it is: the words “Calf split leather” look wrong - too large and in a non-matching sans-serif font.  This is much better done in the Clarion.  

The Clarion, on the right, prints "Calf split leather" in a more dignified font.

With the Heritage, Cambridge has brought together two beautiful editions of the two greatest books ever published.  If I had to spend the rest of my days alone on a desert island, and could only have one book, this would be it.

I am grateful to the Baker Publishing Group for supplying a copy of this book for the purposes of this review.

Oxford World's Classics vs. Penguin Classics

Both the traditional King James Version and the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible are available in handsome text-only, black-letter, paperback editions which include the Apocrypha.  The Oxford World's Classics KJV and the Penguin Classics NCPB are both bricks - at least two inches thick - with sturdy, opaque paper.  Both editions print the entire Bible without editorial interruptions - all the extensive notes are found at the back of the book.  This feature also provides some ballast for the New Testament: even when you are reading Revelation, there are still about a hundred more pages in the book!

Here is a comparison of these two Bibles:

Biblical text 
Oxford: Standard 1769; words that have no equivalent in the original text are printed in italics.
Penguin: 1611, but with modern spelling and punctuation; no words are in italics.

In both editions
Epistle Dedicatory.

Also included 
Oxford: The Translators to the Reader, a 36-page Introduction by Robert Carroll and Stephen Prickett, 121 pages of Notes on the books of the Bible, a four-page Glossary to the Notes and six maps printed over eleven pages.

Penguin: A 16-page Introduction by David Norton, 53 pages of Notes on the books of the Bible, five maps printed over seven pages - and 14 sheets of blank paper at the back!

Presentation
The Oxford is double-column; the Penguin is single-column.
The Oxford is verse-by-verse; the Penguin is paragraphed.

Font size
Slightly larger in the Penguin than in the Oxford.

Page size 
Oxford: 5 x 7 11/16 x 2 1/8 inches.
Penguin: 5 1/4 x 8 7/16 x 2 inches.

Printed text
Oxford: 4 1/8 x 6 inches.
Penguin: 3 7/8 x 7 3/8 inches.

Lines per page
Oxford: 47 (7.83 lines per vertical inch).
Penguin: 48 (6.51 lines per vertical inch).
There is more space between the lines in the Penguin than in the Oxford.

Books begin...
Oxford: where the previous one ended.
Penguin: at the top of a page (with one exception) and usually on a right-hand page (with two exceptions).

Text sample (click on “Search inside this book”)
Oxford
Penguin

Paper opacity
Excellent in both.  It is a paradox that these cheapest of Bibles have the most opaque paper!

From the Introduction
Oxford: “The Bible is the basic book of our civilization.  It holds a unique and exclusive status not merely in terms of the religious history of the western world but also in literary history and even in what might be called our collective cultural psyche.”

Penguin: “Experienced throughout life by generations of English-speakers, [the KJV] is at the heart of English-speaking religion and culture, shaping emotional history, law, language and literature.  Whether or not one is a Christian, one cannot know what it means to be part of an English-speaking heritage without knowledge of the King James Bible.”

Everyman's Library vs. NCPB

Hardback Bibles are one of the best-kept secrets in the world of quality Bibles.  Most Bible aficionados are preoccupied with leather bindings - and one can see why: holding a fine leather Bible can be a sublime experience.  But a hardback edition provides the same text block for a fraction of the cost - in the case of the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, the hardback edition with the Apocrypha is a third of the price of the leather edition; the hardback without the Apocrypha is just 29% of the cost of the same edition in leather.

Hardback editions are also much more convenient.  Unless your leather Bible came with a rigid slipcase, it must be stored horizontally.  If you own even a few leather Bibles you know how hard it is to easily grab just the one you want from the stack!  A high-quality hardback Bible, standing vertically on a book shelf, can be used easily - and therefore more often.

Below is a brief comparison of two hardback, personal-size, single-column, black-letter King James Bibles: a brace of volumes published by Everyman’s Library and the 2011 Revised edition of the NCPB.

Publishing a Bible in two volumes should allow real gains to be made in the two great drawbacks of most Bibles: thin paper and small type.  Unfortunately, the Everyman’s Library volumes of the Old and New Testament are only partially successful in overcoming these: the paper is more opaque than in the NCPB, but the print is smaller.

Finally, if you like to keep the dustjackets on your Bibles, you might consider getting the British editions of the Everyman’s Library instead of the American ones - I think the design is more stately.  Otherwise, the books themselves are the same, finished in a gorgeous and distinguished light taupe cloth cover.  The NCPB is cased in a hard, smooth marble-looking cover. 

Biblical text 
Everyman’s: Standard 1769; words that have no equivalent in the original text are printed in italics.
NCPB: 1611, but with modern spelling and punctuation; no words are in italics.

Apocrypha included? 
Everyman’s: No.
NCPB: Available with or without the Apocrypha.

Also on each page 
Everyman’s: Nothing else.
NCPB: Marginal notes in the inside margin.

In both editions
Epistle Dedicatory.
The Translators to the Reader.

Also included 
Everyman’s: In the Old Testament volume, a 37-page introduction by George Steiner; in the New Testament, a 44-page introduction by John Drury - and in both, a cloth ribbon! 
NCPB: A five-page Editor’s Introduction by David Norton.

Format
Everyman’s: Each verse begins on a new line.
NCPB: Printed in paragraphs.

Font
Everyman’s: Ehrhardt.
NCPB: Swift.

Font size
Slightly larger in the NCPB than in the Everyman’s.

Page size
Everyman’s: 5 x 7 1/16 inches.
NCPB: 5 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches.

Printed text (not including marginal notes)
Everyman’s: 3 1/2 x 6 1/16 inches.
NCPB: 3 3/4 x 7 1/8 inches.

Lines per page
Everyman’s: 42.
NCPB: 48.
There is slightly more space between the lines of the NCPB than in the Everyman’s.

Books begin...
Everyman’s: at the top of a page.
NCPB: at the top of a page (with one exception) and usually on a right-hand page.

Page size 
Everyman’s: 4 7/8 x 8 inches.
NCPB: 5 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches.

Printed text (not including marginal notes)
Everyman’s: 3 3/4 x 6 1/8 inches.
NCPB: 3 7/8 x 7 3/4 inches.

Paper opacity
In the Everyman’s volumes, the paper in the New Testament is slightly more opaque than in the Old Testament, but both are noticeably better than the NCPB.  (However, none of these three volumes is as opaque as the Penguin Classics edition of the NCPB).

Thomas Nelson vs. Penguin Classics

The layout of the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible makes it a joy to read.  Some people, however - though loving the design - may prefer the standard KJV text to David Norton’s restoration.  So, in a previous post, I compared two personal-size, single-column, paragraph-format, black-letter King James Bibles published in 2011 by Cambridge University Press: the Clarion Reference Bible and the Revised edition of the NCPB.

Here is a comparison of two text-only, single-column, paragraph-format, black-letter King James Bibles: one published by Thomas Nelson and the other by Penguin Classics:

Biblical text 
Thomas Nelson: Standard 1769; words that have no equivalent in the original text are printed in italics.

Penguin Classics: 1611, but with modern spelling and punctuation; no words are in italics.

Apocrypha included? 
Thomas Nelson: No.
Penguin Classics: Yes.

Also on each page 
Thomas Nelson: Marginal notes at the bottom of the page.
Penguin Classics: Nothing else.

In both editions
Epistle Dedicatory.

Also included 
Thomas Nelson: Bible in a Year reading plan, 30 days with Jesus, 90 day overview of the Bible, Passages for Christmas and Easter, and a concordance.

Penguin Classics: A 16-page Introduction, 53 pages of Notes on the books of the Bible, and seven pages of maps.

Font size
Slightly larger in the Thomas Nelson than in the Penguin Classics (which is slightly larger than the font used in the 2011 Revised edition).

Page size 
Thomas Nelson: 5 1/2 x 8 5/16 inches.
Penguin Classics: 5 1/4 x 8 1/2 inches.

Printed text (not including marginal notes)
Thomas Nelson: 4 3/16 x 7 3/16 inches.
Penguin Classics: 3 7/8 x 7 3/8 inches.

Lines per page
Thomas Nelson: 47 (6.54 lines per vertical inch).
Penguin Classics: 48 (6.51 lines per vertical inch).
There is slightly more space between the lines in the Penguin Classics than in the Thomas Nelson.

Books begin...
Thomas Nelson: at the top of a page.
Penguin Classics: at the top of a page (with one exception) and usually on a right-hand page (with two exceptions).

Text sample
Thomas Nelson
Penguin Classics (but ignore the marginal notes, which are in all other editions of the NCPB).

Paper opacity
Noticeably better in the Penguin Classics than in the Thomas Nelson.  (The paper opacity in the 2011 Revised edition is somewhere in between these two editions.)

Bindings available
Thomas Nelson: Black leather or leather-like.
Penguin Classics: Paperback.

Single-column Bibles

I have always loved single-column Bibles, and have hardly ever used anything else.  A single-column Bible just looks like it was meant to be read!  However, single-column Bibles have two special requirements beyond the needs of traditional double-column editions: the text needs to be larger and the paper needs to be better.

The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible has about 70 characters per line, which is just about right.  If there are more than this, it’s hard for your eye to find the start of the next line.  So, if a publisher is going to keep each line to about 70 characters, this rule must be followed: the wider the line, the larger the font.

There is a greater need for relatively opaque paper in single-column Bibles than in double-column ones.  This is because they more often have text which is not backed by text on the reverse side of the page (this happens especially in sections that are printed in verse, such as the Psalms).  Your appreciation of all that white space is marred by seeing the words printed on the other side.  One simply notices show-through more when reading a single column Bible!

In an earlier post I complained about the translucency of the paper that is used in the Revised Cambridge edition of the NCPB.  However, their Cameo edition uses even thinner paper (the same stock used in the Clarion Reference Bible) but, because the Cameo is printed in double-columns, the show-through is not as obvious as it is in the Clarion or the NCPB.

A single-column setting makes almost any Bible a pleasure to read - as long as the font is big enough and the paper is thick enough!

KJV Clarion Reference Bible vs. NCPB

In 2011, to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the KJV, Cambridge University Press published two new personal-size, single-column, paragraph-format, black-letter King James Bibles: the Clarion Reference Bible and the Revised edition of the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible.  It might be useful to compare and contrast these two editions.

Biblical text
Clarion: Standard 1769; words that have no equivalent in the original text are printed in italics.
NCPB: 1611, but with modern spelling and punctuation; no words are in italics.

Apocrypha
Clarion: Not included.
NCPB: Available with or without the Apocrypha.

Also on each page
Clarion: Cross references in the outside margin.
NCPB: Marginal notes in the inside margin.

In both editions
Epistle Dedicatory.
The Translators to the Reader.

Also included
Clarion: Reader’s Companion (a combination concordance and dictionary) and 15 maps.
NCPB: Editor’s Introduction.

Font
Clarion: Lexicon No. 1, in 8.75 point.
NCPB: Swift, in 10.9 point.
Despite the different font sizes, the type in these two Bibles appears to be similar in size.

Page size
Clarion: 5 x 7 1/16 inches.
NCPB: 5 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches.

Printed text (not including cross references or marginal notes)
Clarion: 3 1/2 x 6 1/16 inches.
NCPB: 3 3/4 x 7 1/8 inches.

Lines per page
Clarion: 42 (5.946 lines per vertical inch).
NCPB: 48 (5.818 lines per vertical inch).
There is slightly more space between the lines of the NCPB than in the Clarion.

Books begin...
Clarion: where the previous one ended.
NCPB: almost always at the top of a page, and usually on a right-hand page.

Text sample
Clarion
NCPB 

Paper stock
Clarion: Indolux India paper
27 grams per square meter
Thickness 30 (1690 pages per inch)
Opacity 79.5, Whiteness 87

NCPB: 



OP Opaque Bible paper
31 grams per square meter
Thickness 36.5 (1390 pages per inch)
Opacity 81, Whiteness 83

As defined in the Cambridge Glossary, India paper weighs less than 30 grams per square meter and Bible paper weighs at least 30 grams per square meter.

Bindings available 
Clarion: Black or brown leather.
NCPB: Hardback or black leather.

Paper

To me, the most important feature of a Bible is the paper.  And the most important specification of the paper is its opacity.  Because of their length, Bibles are printed on thin paper.  How well the paper shields the reader from what is printed on the other side, not to mention the next page, is crucial.

Every edition of the New Cambridge Paragraph Bible is printed on different paper stock.  Let me review them, from best to worst.  Though I haven’t seen it, I will assume that the two-volume Folio Society edition, which is printed on Abbey Wove paper, is the best.  At $975, it should be!

The single-volume Folio Society edition must be next.  The publisher says it has thicker paper than most other Folio Society books - which is great, but it costs $150.

Among the affordable editions of the NCPB, the cheapest one has the next best paper.  The Penguin Classics edition, a two-inch thick paperback book, uses a sturdy paper that keeps glimpses of upcoming pages to a minimum.

Slightly less opaque is the paper used in the First Cambridge edition, now sadly out of print.  The decent paper stock and the printer’s careful line-matching ensure that you really only notice the text that is printed on the reverse side of the page when reading the poetry sections.

Last, and I’m afraid least, is the Revised Cambridge edition.  This is especially unfortunate because it is the only affordable edition of the NCPB published in hardback or leather bindings.  And it’s the only edition available either with or without the Apocrypha.

I suppose only the paper in a lectern Bible is truly opaque (even the picture of Judith 16 in the two-volume Folio Society edition reveals some show-through) but the closer one can get to that ideal in a personal-size Bible, the better.