That Bible is a priceless treasure for you. It was not only well used, but well loved. I pray that whom ever you pass it down to will appreciate it as much as your wife's grandfather apparently appreciates and loves you!
Thanks for all you do, Beau. I am looking to try my hand at Bible rebinding here eventually, and your videos continue to help me learn what I need to know.
Greetings Beau! I have a question for you and a possible idea for a future video. I have noticed that contemporary premium Bibles (20th and 21st centuries) are of a similar sort and that is of a floppy design made of leather but without stiff boards( of course, there are a few exceptions). It seems counterintuitive because one would think that a hardcover leather would be sturdier and therefore more desirable that a leather softcover (similar to other hardcover books being normally more desirable than paperbacks). I’m assuming that a floppy leather is superior but I’m not sure why. Is it that you can edge-line floppies but not leather over board? Is it that less is more and that the boards are a detriment? I have noticed that pre-20th century Bibles tend to be more leather over board. Anyway, just a curiosity and I hope you can give some insight. Thank you and God bless you.
My best explanation for the popularity of the softcover leather binding would be the advancements in paper production over the last 100-150 years which finally allowed paper to be made much thinner and yet still very high quality which would allow for people to have a whole bible compressed into much thinner personal editions. Prior to the advent of thinner paper, people typically didn't have personal bibles because they were so big and thick and they typically were family bibles (for reading at home) and Pulpit bibles (for preaching). Thinner paper allowed people to have more affordable personal bibles, and a big part of that affordability comes from NOT adding the wooden boards to make them hardcovers. So, by the bible producers not adding the wooden boarding, they made the newer personal editions both cheaper and lighter, and therefore more appealing to the consumers. So, I agree with you that leather over board is probably the highest level of premium that a bible can get, and that is still evident in the market because the price of a leather over board pulpit bible, regardless of the translation, is about 3-4 times higher than the price of one of the most expensive personal soft leather bindings. The use of the edge-lined construction design in the softcover bindings also made those softcover editions, which are now much cheaper than the hardcovers, also tougher and more long-lasting than the hardcover editions. I hope this explanations helps.
Beau Tate thank you so much for your reply. I think you’re right about the thinner paper being an issue. I also agree with you that the softcover is more durable than the hardcover. I have a modest collection of Easton Press/Franklin Library hardcover leather books and I cannot see using them on a regular daily basis as I would for a Bible. Nice as they are, it appears that the hinge would wear away if the case doesn’t just come off through repeated use. This is something one wouldn’t be worried about with softcover edge-lined Bibles. In this case, the boards would just be a hindrance to longevity. Furthermore, I wonder if tradition has given us our floppy bibles as well. If you think about, when one sees a softcover leather bound book on a table, one immediately knows it’s a Bible-it truly has an iconic status, especially among us Evangelicals.
@@TomPlantagenet Very true about tradition... I also feel that the popularity of the "tent revival" and other more mobile ministries required preachers and ministers to use more portable editions because having and using a large pulpit bible was either impractical or impossible for them. So, the majority of the public became more normalized to the view of a preacher as well as the congregants using softcover editions for both preaching and study. Also, when you go back and look at some of the most famous ministers of the past century, many of them liked to hold the scriptures in their hands while preaching to show, either consciously or subconsciously, that they held truth and therefore processed authority that what they were teaching was true, and that visual display was not possible with a hardcover Pulpit Bible. We also can attribute this popularity to the invention of the television because once a broadcast could be sent to an exponentially larger audience, now the psyche of the church is being shown that "really effective" preachers "on TV" use a softcover and hold it while they speak. This tradition seeps into the minds of young preachers who want to be effective communicators like the ones they grew up watching on TV or at large scale revivals, so they emulate the action with their congregations as well. All of these technological advancements worked toward the changing of the guard for the preaching bible to be seen as a huge hardcover bible pre-1850s, to a much smaller, portable leather softcover from that time to today.
Beau Tate that is quite interesting and from personal experience it makes sense. I was raised a Roman Catholic and was saved in 1995. Watching the preachers in those days I realized that the big black floppy leather Bible was the epitome of what Bibles were supposed to be. That was long before I discovered the world of premium Bibles and realized that it was so (although I am aware that the cheapest outreach Bible is as much the Word of God as an Allan so I’m not a complete snob).Anyway-you have amazing insight and an historical understanding of the subject of Bibles and books in general. I hope that you do some videos on this as nerds like myself love this stuff.
Beau Tate Another thing to add is that with the advent of case binding in ~1820 the costs of bookbinding decreased a lot, even though durability was decreased compared to older bindings (e.g. English binding). This allowed portable softcover editions to be possible, or at least feasible, in the first place.
Most definitely inferior. Having a synthetic liner that's edge lined its way better than a paper paste down... But synthetic material will break down over time, much much faster than a real leather liner
That Bible is a priceless treasure for you. It was not only well used, but well loved. I pray that whom ever you pass it down to will appreciate it as much as your wife's grandfather apparently appreciates and loves you!
Great share. Excellent example.
Very helpful!
You are the master🙏🤴
Great video on why quality matters.
Thanks for explaining that. I finally know what edge lined means and why its important!
Is the Cambridge Clarion edge-lined and leather lined vs standard lined?
What a great Bible. Informative vid as well. Thanks bro
Hello I am confuse about few terms regarding bible construction. Smyth sewn vs glue down and edge lined vs paste down. Are they the same thing?
Wow!! I haven’t ever known this. Let’s look at my grandfather’s Bible this afternoon ❤️
Thanks for all you do, Beau. I am looking to try my hand at Bible rebinding here eventually, and your videos continue to help me learn what I need to know.
Just dropped $150 on a bible after watching this, if it's going to last me 60 years of constant reading it's worth it!
I live your TH-cam channel brother, have a blessed weekend
Good one, Beau--and a very cool Bible!
Greetings Beau! I have a question for you and a possible idea for a future video. I have noticed that contemporary premium Bibles (20th and 21st centuries) are of a similar sort and that is of a floppy design made of leather but without stiff boards( of course, there are a few exceptions). It seems counterintuitive because one would think that a hardcover leather would be sturdier and therefore more desirable that a leather softcover (similar to other hardcover books being normally more desirable than paperbacks). I’m assuming that a floppy leather is superior but I’m not sure why. Is it that you can edge-line floppies but not leather over board? Is it that less is more and that the boards are a detriment? I have noticed that pre-20th century Bibles tend to be more leather over board. Anyway, just a curiosity and I hope you can give some insight. Thank you and God bless you.
My best explanation for the popularity of the softcover leather binding would be the advancements in paper production over the last 100-150 years which finally allowed paper to be made much thinner and yet still very high quality which would allow for people to have a whole bible compressed into much thinner personal editions. Prior to the advent of thinner paper, people typically didn't have personal bibles because they were so big and thick and they typically were family bibles (for reading at home) and Pulpit bibles (for preaching). Thinner paper allowed people to have more affordable personal bibles, and a big part of that affordability comes from NOT adding the wooden boards to make them hardcovers. So, by the bible producers not adding the wooden boarding, they made the newer personal editions both cheaper and lighter, and therefore more appealing to the consumers. So, I agree with you that leather over board is probably the highest level of premium that a bible can get, and that is still evident in the market because the price of a leather over board pulpit bible, regardless of the translation, is about 3-4 times higher than the price of one of the most expensive personal soft leather bindings. The use of the edge-lined construction design in the softcover bindings also made those softcover editions, which are now much cheaper than the hardcovers, also tougher and more long-lasting than the hardcover editions. I hope this explanations helps.
Beau Tate thank you so much for your reply. I think you’re right about the thinner paper being an issue. I also agree with you that the softcover is more durable than the hardcover. I have a modest collection of Easton Press/Franklin Library hardcover leather books and I cannot see using them on a regular daily basis as I would for a Bible. Nice as they are, it appears that the hinge would wear away if the case doesn’t just come off through repeated use. This is something one wouldn’t be worried about with softcover edge-lined Bibles. In this case, the boards would just be a hindrance to longevity. Furthermore, I wonder if tradition has given us our floppy bibles as well. If you think about, when one sees a softcover leather bound book on a table, one immediately knows it’s a Bible-it truly has an iconic status, especially among us Evangelicals.
@@TomPlantagenet Very true about tradition... I also feel that the popularity of the "tent revival" and other more mobile ministries required preachers and ministers to use more portable editions because having and using a large pulpit bible was either impractical or impossible for them. So, the majority of the public became more normalized to the view of a preacher as well as the congregants using softcover editions for both preaching and study. Also, when you go back and look at some of the most famous ministers of the past century, many of them liked to hold the scriptures in their hands while preaching to show, either consciously or subconsciously, that they held truth and therefore processed authority that what they were teaching was true, and that visual display was not possible with a hardcover Pulpit Bible. We also can attribute this popularity to the invention of the television because once a broadcast could be sent to an exponentially larger audience, now the psyche of the church is being shown that "really effective" preachers "on TV" use a softcover and hold it while they speak. This tradition seeps into the minds of young preachers who want to be effective communicators like the ones they grew up watching on TV or at large scale revivals, so they emulate the action with their congregations as well. All of these technological advancements worked toward the changing of the guard for the preaching bible to be seen as a huge hardcover bible pre-1850s, to a much smaller, portable leather softcover from that time to today.
Beau Tate that is quite interesting and from personal experience it makes sense. I was raised a Roman Catholic and was saved in 1995. Watching the preachers in those days I realized that the big black floppy leather Bible was the epitome of what Bibles were supposed to be. That was long before I discovered the world of premium Bibles and realized that it was so (although I am aware that the cheapest outreach Bible is as much the Word of God as an Allan so I’m not a complete snob).Anyway-you have amazing insight and an historical understanding of the subject of Bibles and books in general. I hope that you do some videos on this as nerds like myself love this stuff.
Beau Tate Another thing to add is that with the advent of case binding in ~1820 the costs of bookbinding decreased a lot, even though durability was decreased compared to older bindings (e.g. English binding). This allowed portable softcover editions to be possible, or at least feasible, in the first place.
Grr. Watched the video and still have no idea what edged line actually does.
Do you believe Church Bible Publishers' synthetic leather lining is inferior to real leather lining?
Most definitely inferior. Having a synthetic liner that's edge lined its way better than a paper paste down... But synthetic material will break down over time, much much faster than a real leather liner