Rebinding an ESV Thinline: A Mechling Bookbindery Project
In 2001, Crossway released the English Standard Version, an evangelical revision of the venerable RSV. The problem: while I admired the translation, Crossway's production values came nowhere close to the quality I wanted. So I turned to Mechling Bookbindery for help.
If you're interested in fine Bibles, the odds are you've contemplated something similar. What if you could strip away the cardboard-like substance that passes for genuine leather in most Bibles and have a rebinding wizard replace it with some exquisite substitute from yesteryear? My reviews have generated a lot of e-mail inquiries over the years, and the number one topic has to be the feasibility of rebinding a Bible. My own experience suggests that it's possible -- but you have to know exactly what you want!
My specifications were fairly complex: the Thinline was to be removed from its shoddy Crossway binding and given a goatskin cover with semi-yapp (i.e., overhanging) edges, with as much attention given to limp flexibility as possible. I wanted this Bible to fall open when set on its spine and stay flat. In addition, I wanted two gold ribbons added and no stamping on the binding except for the words holy bible on the spine.
Overall, the results were good. The goatskin is quite luxurious and the binding strong. I was disappointed, though, by the flatness of the spine -- in the photo at right, you can see that the edges of the spine curve, but most of its length lies unnaturally flat. This might have been alleviated by a series of bands on the spine (which I thought I'd specified), but the Bible arrived without these.
Also, while it is more flexible than the original binding, the Thinline does not fall open with the ease I was hoping for. To sum up, I am pleased with the results, but if I were to do it all over again I would make a more detailed inventory of features and do everything I could to communicate them to the binder. The cost of the project was under $100.
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Mechling Bookbindery
J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor whose writing on Bible design has helped spark a publishing revolution. Mark is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), as well as the novels Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide—described as a “series worth getting attached to” (Christianity Today) by “a major crime fiction talent” (Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Henning Mankell.
Mark has a BA in English Literature from Union University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an M.Div. from Heidelberg Theological Seminary. Through his influential Bible Design Blog, Mark has championed a new generation of readable Bibles. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, and chairs the Society’s Award Committee. His work was featured in the November 2021 issue of FaithLife’s Bible Study Magazine.
Mark also serves on the board of Worldview Academy, where he has been a member of the faculty of theology since 2003. Since 2017, he has been an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Laurie life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.