Leonard's Rebound RSV-2CE NT and Psalms (full review)

Tim, thanks for asking me to do a write up on my recent Ignatius RSV-2CE compact, bonded leather, NT & Psalms.  After becoming a big fan of your blog, and Matt’s “Absolutely No Spin “ blog, I became familiar with what you and Matt have done with having Bibles, Breviaries, etc. rebound in high-end leather.  Your site put me on to Leonard’s Bible Restoration.  They are wonderful people.  It is truly a “mom and pop” shop that does top notch work.

Review of the Ignatius RSV-2CE compact

My “trial run” was going to be an extra copy I have of the Ignatius RSV-2CE compact, bonded leather, NT & Psalms.  Why?  I had an extra, “new” copy and my other “well-loved” copy is my working/apologetics-pocket-Bible (well - NT/Psalms) copy.  That copy well-loved copy was just too marked up to justify an expensive leather rebind (IMO – some would disagree I’m sure).  Another reason I chose this Bible is the cost/quality ratio.  I think this Bible is one of the best deals.  You can pick it up, usually, for under $20.  For being a “compact” Bible, the type is a typical size bible type size (10 pt?).  It is very easy on the eyes.  The paper is very good as well.  No “ghosting” at all.  Most ball-point ink note taking doesn’t show through too much.  And I think the gilt edges are well done considering the price.

The drawback is that the cover is bonded leather.  With that said, I do think the Ignatius bonded leather is very nice bonded leather.  But it can only be so good and will always be a far cry from genuine.  And it will simply not hold up long term to high usage.   So that made the decision easy for choosing this particular Bible version to have rebound.

But mostly, I wanted a Bible with nothing extra on each page to distract me from Christ’s WORD.  I LOVE Bibles.  I love study Bibles, but they are definitely too distracting for me for devotional reading.  Even traditional (non-study) Bibles have minor notes and cross references that send me into “research mode” while I am trying to just do devotional reading.  THIS NT/Psalms has all the RSV notes as end-notes at the end of the Bible (which I dislike when I’m studying).  So they are not there for distraction.  Only the very very rare, critical, note has made it onto the page.  There aren’t even any introductory notes to each Gospel/Epistle.  Thank you, Ignatius Press.  This Bible is refreshing for those of us that need to GET AWAY from a scholarly approach to the WORD.

My experience rebinding with Leonard’s

I can’t say enough for how nice and responsive Margie and the gang are at Leonard’s.   They do it all by email.   Margie helped me choose the Chocolate "Soft-tanned Goatskin" with spine ribbing added.  I had seen a photo on the Leonard’s site I thought was perfect.  And, for my first experience with Leonard’s, I wanted to go with something I could see. 

I really like the “blind stamping” of HOLY BIBLE on the spine and my name on the front cover.  Leaving the gold out give it a more natural look to me.  And there is no gold to flake off over time.   I also went with the same 3 color ribbons.  One for the Gospel I’m in, one for Epistles, and one for the Psalms.  Seemed like a lot of ribbons for only NT/Psalms, but aren’t we in three sections every day in Mass?  One of the best spiritual direction advices I’ve received is “Stay close to the Gospel.”  To me, that means (1) read the Gospel every day and (2) if you can, actually keep the Gospel close to your body…hence, the RSV compact which can easily fit in my back pocket!

I have sent Tim some pictures I took with my other copy of the RSV Compact for comparison (hope they help).

Cost:  Getting anything rebound in really nice leather is expensive.  As I commented on a post earlier, the cost for this rebind was $89.50 before the extras. Blind stamping ($10), 3 ribbons ($20 and shipping ($10), came to $111.50.  Not inexpensive, but if these Bibles are the most precious “items” in our lives (as they are, whether we realize it or not), we should not flinch at spending the price of a somewhat-expensive sporting event ticket on them.  If we compare the rebinding price to the price of a nice pair of work shoes, or sports-jacket, or a really nice dinner, or our overly addicting “smartphones”, we should have no problem spending the money.  It’s God’s WORD, the one thing that binds us all.  Not the shoes, the iphone, nor the sports ticket.  (Sorry, I wasn’t asked to sermonize)

Some friends and I are having a full size Bible rebound by Leonard’s in black soft-tanned goatskin for our Pastor.  And my family just sent off our grandmother’s Bible to Leonard’s.  So I’m THAT impressed.  I will share pictures.

Pax Christi,

Corey

Thank you to Corey for this wonderful review!

Semi-Regular Weekly Poll

How do you like "busy" Bible covers like the Ignatius RSV- 2CE?

• I really like ornamental Bible covers
• I like plain, non-ornamental covers
• It doesn't matter what the cover is like
• Other

Freeblogpolls

More polls: Tandläkare Stockholm

A Prayer for Election Day

AN ELECTION YEAR PRAYER FOR THE FAITHFUL WITNESS OF CATHOLICS IN THE UNITED STATES 

 

O Lord Jesus Christ,
You alone are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
In Your Church You show us the Way,
You teach us the Truth, and You give us Your Life.
Grant, we humbly beg You,
that, always and in all things, we may
be faithful to You in Your Holy Church,
and to Your Vicar on Earth, the Supreme Pontiff,
Pope Benedict XVI.

Grant also, we beg You,
that, in these times of decision,
all who profess to be Catholic
and who are entrusted with the sacred duty
to participate in public life,
may, by the strength of Your grace,
unwaveringly follow Your Way and
faithfully adhere to Your Truth,
living in You with all their mind and heart,
for Your greater glory, the salvation of souls,
and the good of our nation.

Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America,
Pray for us.

Saint Thomas More, Patron of Religious Freedom,
Pray for us.

 

 

By His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke,
Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura

Logos 5 is Available

Logos 5 is now available! 

From Logos:
Bible study is about connection. The Bible connects us to the very words of God, and to study it is to make connections: between facts and feelings, texts and commentators, hearts and minds, ourselves and God and one another.

Logos Bible Software 5 is a significant update that is all about connection. Logos 5 connects the people, places, things, events, topics, and themes of the Bible with new and expanded databases. It is completely integrated with Faithlife, an online network for connecting your faith community, where you can share biblical insights, maintain a group prayer list, or read the Bible (or any book in your Logos library) in community with others. Logos 5 features new guides and tools for connecting the dots in your Bible study.

Experts have spent more than three years writing, editing, and tagging our unique databases of Bible knowledge. Dozens of books have been thoroughly tagged with special metadata about Bible outlines, preaching themes, historical events and Bible facts. Every original language word in the Bible has been reanalyzed and connected to new databases, while staying connected to modern translations. We have created nearly a million connections between our data elements and Bible verses.

All this connection is toward one end: helping you do more and better Bible study.
And, conveniently, all this connection makes that easier than ever before. In addition to powerful new tools for sermon preparation and topical study, Logos 5 contains many small updates and improvements that streamline your study. Logos 5 quickly becomes a transparent tool that gets all the overhead out of the way, so you can get connected to the Word.

Sunday Knox: Deuteronomy 6:4-6

Below is a portion from this coming Sunday's first reading:

 "Listen then, Israel; there is no Lord but the Lord our God, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with the love of thy whole heart, and thy whole soul, and thy whole strength. The commands I give thee this day must be written on thy heart." --Knox Bible


"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. Take to heart these words which I enjoin on you today." --NAB (lectionary)


Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.e Take to heart these words which I command you today." --NABRE

Catholicism Pure and Simple

I first came across the writings of popular Catholic blogger Fr. Dwight Longenecker a few years back when I was in Rome.  I had stopped in a fairly large bookstore just outside the Vatican and picked up a small booklet entitled The God Man: Finding the Real Jesus written by Fr. Longenecker.  It was a short book, but one that was both very clear and elegant in its style and convincing in its argumentation.  I am very happy to report that you can now acquire this small booklet, which is now part of a much larger collection that has just recently been published entitled Catholicism Pure and Simple.

This volume is a simple explanation of the faith, but full of fantastic insights.  For example, in the section discussing the rise of the prophetic movement in ancient Israel, Fr. Longenecker writes:


"In the second part of the Old Testament the Jewish
writers begin to speak the language of love. The
prophets were holy men who taught the Jewish people
about God in a vivid and powerful way. In many different
ways the Jewish prophets tell us that God loves
his people.  They say God is like a passionate lover who seeks
and pursues the beloved everywhere. He is a faithful
husband who loves his wife no matter what she does.
The ancient Jewish writers tell us that God is a good
and gentle shepherd. He is a wise and gracious king,
a patient Father, and a long-suffering servant. The
prophets say that he is a faithful God: although we
might turn away from him, he will never turn away
from us."

Beautiful huh?  A number of people who have already reviewed this book point out that it would be a helpful companion for those in R.C.I.A. classes.  While I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, I am planning on giving it to family members for Christmas as way of (re-)evangelizing family members.  We are in the "Year of Faith", a time to rekindle not only our own faith life, but also those around us who may have left the Church.  I think Catholicism Pure and Simple is an excellent tool in doing this!

Leonard's Rebound RSV-2CE NT and Psalms

Reader Corey recently had his Ignatius RSV-2CE Compact New Testament and Psalms rebound by Leonard's Book Restoration Station.  He has provided some of the specs regarding the restoration and will provide some additional commentary in the future.



Specs:

• recover of the Ignatius RSV-CE "NT/Psalms".  Originally blue bonded leather (which, of bonded leather bibles, I think Ignatius' is the best.)
• recovered by Leonard's Book Restoration
• Chocolate "Soft-tanned Goatskin"
• Blind stamping of name and "Holy Bible" on spin.
• They added the spin ribbing and replaced the original 2 red ribbons with the 3 different colors.