The Message (Personal Size) Numbered Edition

I've sung the praises of NavPress before, citing the design savvy apparent in several editions of The Message Remix, and now I have to do it again. Like every publisher, NavPress turns out its fair share of tasteless kitsch, but every so often they show that with a little aesthetic know-how, inexpensive materials can be shaped into a superb finished product. The latest example of this is the new Personal Size Numbered Edition of The Message.

The Message, of course, is a popular paraphrase of Scripture by Eugene Peterson. I love Peterson's writing and have gained a great deal from him over the years, but I'm not a big fan of the paraphrase. It doesn't "speak to me," I guess you could say. So why is it the first option I investigate every time I'm in the bookstore? Because NavPress has done a great job of designing outside the box. The Message Remix hardback, for example, is a great, reader-friendly format that's become a bit of a postmodern classic.

If The Message is a paraphrase of Scripture, the Personal Size Numbered Edition is a paraphrase of the traditional leather Bible. The parts are all there, more or less, but they've been refreshed with a dose of design sense. The edition pictured here is bound in a flexible "leather look" cover that resembles a Hollywood costumer's take on a WWII bomber jacket. A single brown ribbon complements the color. The text block, printed on cream-colored paper, shifts like liquid in your hand. It's not very opaque -- there's plenty of bleed-through -- but it feels good when you handle it. I purchased this edition from Amazon for $20 after passing up the tackier covers with inset photos available at the bookstore. But the Personal Size Numbered Edition doesn't feel like a $20 book. This thing punches above its weight.

The layout is single column, with poetry set in verse. As with the hardback I reviewed before, the verse numbers are placed in the margin where they don't interrupt the flow of the text. The designers fixed one of the big problems with the hardback, though -- they increased the size of the inner margins (the "gutter") so that the text doesn't disappear into the binding. By narrowing the text column, readability is improved.

As you can see from the photos, the Personal Size Numbered Edition opens flat, another attribute that aids reading. If you ask me, every book should do this -- certainly every Bible -- and the fact that NavPress delivers this kind of quality at this price point is a lesson to those who think it isn't possible. It is, and is a perfect example. The combination of cover, paper, and binding make this inexpensive edition a real pleasure to use. There's nothing luxurious about it, but it exudes quality.

I'm not happy about everything, though. As I mentioned, I had to hunt around for this edition. After discovering the Personal Size text setting, I held off on account of the garish covers. I found the sage green edition at the bookstore and grew very excited -- right up until I found the bizarre inset photo in the middle of the cover. To me, this makes about as much sense as the random two-color designs so popular with the synthetic cover. Instead of a beautifully flexible leather replacement in black, tan or red, we get a Frankenstein hodgepodge of color and texture. It's like finding your dream house on the market at an irresistible price, only to find the previous owners painted elves and gnomes on all the interior walls before ripping out the wood floors to put in carpet. Why, why, why, you ask yourself.

NavPress lists a number of more conservative covers in bonded leather, but I was concerned about flexibility, so I held out for the distressed leather-look option you see here. No, it isn't perfect. But from a distance it reads as brown, and that's good enough for me. I just wish the publishers would offer some bread-and-butter covers without the goofy embellishments. In this regard, I think every publisher should take a deep breath and then shamelessly copy the color and design of the Harper Collins NRSV XL, which is offered in attractive tan, brown and green (Catholic) editions.

Having said that, I think this edition represents what all Bible publishers should be striving toward. It's a flexible, open-flat Bible with an attractive single-column setting and elegant proportions -- and you can buy one for a very reasonable amount of money. If you use The Message, but you want something more traditional than the Remix hardback, this edition is a real pleasure.

UPDATE: Stuart Mazz sends the photo below to illustrate that his genuine leather edition of this Bible is every bit as supple and flexible as the "leather look" cover on mine:

Comments

[Nathan]

I've been looking for a copy of the Message that wasn't too flashy and this one seems to fit the bill. I'll look for it next time I'm in the bookstore.

[DLE]

Mark,

Considering the price point, would it be fair to ask just where this Bible was produced? Methinks it's not the US. Asia?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[J. Mark Bertrand]

Dan -- According to the package, it was printed in Japan.

[Jerry]

Twenty bucks? Amazon is showing this edition now at $39.99. There are some from other Amazon vendors as low as $19.99 in a broken box, and some as high as $65!

[J. Mark Bertrand]

Mine was one of the $19.99 ones, and while there was a little damage to the box, there was none to the Bible itself.

[DLE]

Wow. Japan. That's not the country I would've thought. I was thinking along the lines of Singapore. Printing in Japan used to be cheap a long time ago, but now it's upscale in a lot of cases.

Very intriguing.

[Stuart]

I bought a copy of the “genuine leather” edition on special a few months back - it was so nice I couldn't resist buying a copy for 'reference' purposes in my Bible collection. I love the cream-colored paper & the text layout. It's extremely supple & easily performs those fancy 'yoga moves' I see on this blog - in fact it's one of the nicest Bibles I own. I haven't had the priveledge of owning a Cambridge (yet) but have heard that they're ridiculously supple which was my first impression the moment I pulled this edition out of it's protective cover in the store. I don't particularly like "The Message", however this edition JUST FEELS RIGHT & is a pleasure not only to handle but read, so much so I've started to read it with a new appreciation. It sets a great example to the rest of the 'publishing' pack…

[kyle]

I also have the "genuine leather" edition. I can honestly say this: as an entire package (excluding translation -- or paraphrase I should say), it is the best all around Bible I own. The leather is amazingly supple, it is single-column, paragraphed, nice pages, perfect size, and, as stupid as this may sound, it just holds good in your hands. I compare this against numerous Bibles I own including a Highland Goat ESV from Allen, NKJV Thinline Signature from Nelson, cordovan calf ESV from Crossway, NIV Highland Goat from Allen, calfskin NASB from Lockman, KJV/ERV interlinear goatskin from Cambridge, a goatskin re-bound NRSV from Mechling, and at least 5 other high-quality Bibles. This Bible feels the best all around and is single column. I think if Navpress had printed this same Bible in RSV, NRSV, or ESV, I would have concluded my Bible purchases . . . . . or maybe not. anyway, just wanted to weigh in on the genuine leather edition.

[Mike Linder]

A little more detail on the manufacturing of The Message Numbered Edition Personal Size.
It is printed in Japan and then sent to Hong Kong for binding. New Life League is the printer and they can be counted on for excellent work.

However, I will admit that the brown distressed leather-look material is a bit of a compromise. As the publisher, we wanted the look that the material we are using conveys but it is only available from a source that can not seem to keep the material finish consistent from batch to batch no matter how many times we send it back when it deviates from the look we want. As a result you will find a lot of variation from bible to bible. Some have the perfect finish and some end up too slick with too much shine. The good news is that they all have the excellent craftsmanship in printing and binding that New Life League consistently delivers.

[alexander boone]

I want a good geneva study bible and commentary based on the geneva bible.
I am strapped for funds and I need to know if there's a financial fund for bible students that can't raise the funds to make purchases.
Sincerely,
Alexander Boone the 1st
220 s pavilion av 5
Riverside, nj 08075
609-510-0889
[email protected]

[bill]

I think Navpress prices are going up. I had trouble finding a TruTone binding on a Message for under $30! But I wanted a full 6x9 size, not the personal size. It opens and flexes beautifully, but the font is a bit smaller and lighter than my old 1st edition Message in blue hardcover and considerably harder to read so I gave it to my daughter. The 1st edition is still my favorite; the lack of verse numbers is a big plus to me. I used to avoid it because the text ran into the center gutter quite a bit but, even though just a glued binding, it really loosened up with some heavy-handed creasing, working from the outside to the middle 50 pages or so at a time.

[Luke @ Adult Trikes]

I'm researching the different Bible software programs that are available, and am looking for input from anyone that has used Bible soft, Logos, Nelson, Parsons, or other programs.