My first rebound Bible

You may not know this about me but I’m kind of a Bible “junky.” I like to collect different styles and translations. The good news is that I’ve finally settled on my favorite translation and text block style for my daily reader (Crossway ESV Single Column Text Reference Bible). The bad news is that this probably won’t end the “collecting” process. My wife likes to laugh at me about this (in a kind way) but I can think of a lot worse things to collect in my home like the following: mounted animals that have been killed or caught, golf clubs, beer cans, illegal addiction paraphernalia, wives,  and the list could go on and on. So, collecting Bibles doesn’t seem too bad, especially if you’re reading them. Right?

With that said, a site that has helped me to learn about different Bibles, styles, text blocks, etc. is called the Bible Design Blog. It is written by author J. Mark Bertrand and has some great information, pictures, reviews, etc. While reading this blog, I ran across a book restoration business called Leonard’s Book Restoration Station. This company is owned and operated by Eric Haley who is the son of the original owner, Leonard Haley (hence the name).

After spending a lot of time on both of those sites, I decided I wanted to get one of my favorite Bibles rebound. It is an 11-year-old NIV Thinline that is perfect for carrying to church and such. It had a black bonded leather which I’ve learned is to leather like particle board is to wood. It doesn’t last very long. Mine was cracking and the pages were glued in with some coming loose. So, I shipped it off to Leonard’s to have them repair the spine by adding some thin cords and to replace the leather cover.

After much debate, in my mind, I decided I really like flexible bibles that are soft. I also don’t really care for shiny bibles either. I settled on their soft-tanned ultra flexible goatskin in a tobacco tan color. I had my name blind-stamped on the front along with Holy Bible and a small cross on the spine. The other thing I had done was adding two new ribbon markers, one navy blue and one forest green.

I really didn’t know what to expect other than what I’ve read about their work being very good. I was hoping the leather met my expectations. Well, it exceeded them. It is very soft and flexible. I really enjoy how it feels. I couldn’t be more pleased. I’m posting some pictures below if you’re interested. These are mostly presented for the fans of Leonard’s Facebook page because I know there are some addicts over there as well (ha).

I cannot wait until Laura’s birthday present comes in hopefully next week. I bought her a new Crossway Single Column Legacy Bible (the cheapest binding since we really only wanted the text block). It is being rebound in a black goatskin leather with three colored ribbon markers of her choosing. I hope she enjoys it! By the way, she knows so it won’t be a surprise. There was no way I was choosing what she wanted just to make an error in judgement.

Below are the photos. I had a difficult time finding the best place to take them and whether to use the flash or not. Those things really change the color of the Bible from what you see in person. The lighting combination in these seemed to give it the most realistic color. You can click on the photos to see the larger size.