Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Oxford NRSV (anglicized) Pocket Edition with Apocrypha in blue calfskin

Last week I mentioned my struggle with finding a reading Bible and alluded to a different Bible that I was now planning to use.  Well, this is the one I was speaking about, and I couldn't be happier.  

The Oxford NRSV (anglicized) Pocket Edition with Apocrypha in blue calfskin from 1998 is not an easy Bible to find these days.  I was blessed that my friend Jason offered his edition to me, since it has been out of print for a while now.  The edition that Oxford offers today does not come in the same cover material, although the page-layout is similar.  Last year, I reviewed the original NRSV w/Apocrypha compact in black genuine leather from Oxford, which I claimed was one of my favorite editions.  It remains so, but this one is much better.  The leather on the '98 edition is calfskin, which has an amazing feel and look to it.  This compact, in contrast to the older edition, also opens flat. The only thing I wish was included in this edition, but was included in the original, are the Oxford Bible maps.  I have no idea why they wouldn't include them, particularly in a Bible bound in premium leather.  Oh well, nothing ever is perfect.   (By the way, the 3 brand new wine-red ribbons were added by its previous owner, which I am grateful for!)

I hope you enjoy some of these pictures:




16 comments:

Theophrastus said...

Very nice, but what's wrong with the Cambridge NRSV Popular Text Edition, which is only slightly larger than the Oxford compact?

Also, I'm not entirely sure why the HarperOne Compact Thinline did not work for you. You mentioned that you preferred an edition "without any study helps or maps or commentary or even a concordance," but the Thinline lacks all those (except a few maps), no? (I am also confused because you mention you wish this edition had maps.)

Was it the section headings in the Thinline that you disliked? I'm not particularly fond of them myself, and they are a study help of sorts, I suppose, although a modest one -- one arguably considerably less obtrusive than paragraphing or chapter and verse numbering.

(The Cambridge Popular Text Edition does have maps and section headings.)

Timothy said...

Theophrastus,

Nice to hear from you. The reason I didn't mention the popular edition is because I simply don't own it. The big difference between this and the HarperOne is the layout. In a reading Bible like this one, I prefer one without paragraph headings. So, it is a nice mix of things, as well as the calfskin leather cover.

Unknown said...

Wow, such a gorgeous blue! I have the original black leather version, and I really enjoy it. Unfortunately, the text is very small. I considered purchasing the larger version of this, but settled on the NRSVCE Reader's edition. I hope you enjoy it! Could you tell us how the anglicized version is? I'd thought of the Popular Text edition from Cambridge, but was worried about British spellings.

Timothy said...

Erica,
For the most part it has to do with spelling. There is a preface to the Anglicised edition which you can find online. Although Jason, the same friend who gave me this Bible, did a guest post on this very issue: http://www.catholicbiblesblog.com/2014/03/guest-post-us-vs-uk-editions-of-nrsv.html?m=1

Anonymous said...

I just bought from online the following version of "The NRSV Bible: Catholic Edition"
with ISBN-10: 0195282639
ISBN-13: 978-0195282634

It's already on its way, and when using the
"Look inside" feature on Amazon.com for that
edition, I found out that it is the Anglicized version.

Not that is a bad thing, but just to have a plain American version, could someone suggest an ISBN number that I could check out on Amazon?
Here's a possible one:
ISBN-10: 081462796X
ISBN-13: 978-0814627969

It might be instructive to have both of them
open to the same chapters at the same time.
And perhaps it's much adieu about nothing! :)
Jeff S.

Anonymous said...

Due to the lack of availability of good compact editions (other than finding an out-of-print edition somewhere) and the fact that my eyesight is not as good as it used to be, I've been using my Kindle Paperwhite as my compact edition. I've got the NRSV Catholic edition on it and I can adjust the font size, line spacing, etc. the way I like it. It's a great supplement to the Cambridge NRSV Reference w/Apocrypha I use and more "compact" than any paper edition.

Michael P.

Anonymous said...

I thought you eschewed the Anglicized version some time ago - no?

Peter Brennan

Timothy said...

Maybe you are thinking of Jason's post:

http://www.catholicbiblesblog.com/2014/03/guest-post-us-vs-uk-editions-of-nrsv.html?m=1

Timothy said...

Prefaced to Anglicized:

http://bible.oremus.org/nrsvae/preface.html

Unknown said...

Tim,

Thanks for the link. I know this is completely off topic, but could you (or anyone else with experience) recommend a Greek New Testament? I need one for my Greek II class this semester—our final project is translating 1 John.

Now excuse me while I go try to figure out the mess that is participles. (This is what I get for being sick ONE DAY.)

Timothy said...

Erica,

I am sure others will chime in, but I often use this:

http://www.amazon.com/Word-Study-Greek-English-New-Testament/dp/0842382909/ref=sr_1_17?ie=UTF8&qid=1424910693&sr=8-17&keywords=greek-english+interlinear+new+testament

Russ said...

I have that one, too. I know someone once had this one as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Greek-English-Interlinear-Testament-Personal-Size/dp/0842345647/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

Jason Engel said...

Erica,

My personal preference for Greek NT is the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28th Edition with NRSV/REB Greek-English New Testament.

http://www.christianbook.com/testamentum-28th-edition-nrsv-english-testament/9781619700352/pd/700352?item_code=WW&event=CART

Tim,

That sure is a pretty compact Bible ya got there. Take good care of it, I expect you won't find too many like it these days.

Unknown said...

Jason, how's the size on the REB/NRSV Greek New Testament? I've been thinking about that one, but I need it to be portable for class.

Timothy said...

Erica,

I have this one, and it is easily the most portable one:
http://www.amazon.com/Greek-English-Interlinear-Testament-Personal-Size/dp/0842345647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425315939&sr=8-1&keywords=NRSv+Greek+Interlinear

Jason Engel said...

Erica, the one I linked to is actually quite portable, at only a bit more than 7"x5".