R. L. Allan's Oxford Brevier Clarendon Reference Edition
Earlier this year, I reviewed the R. L. Allan's edition of the Oxford Brevier Blackface KJV, concluding that the cover is magnificent and the blackface interior is one of those love-it-or-hate-it propositions, a little too dark for my taste. So it was only natural that I'd take an interest in the less emphatic Brevier Clarendon. Reviewing the list of editions at Bibles-Direct.com, I noticed that the Brevier Clarendon was available in a "brown, buffalo grain calfskin, leather lined in tan." Given my predilection for brown these days, I figured that was perfect.
Above: The Brevier Clarendon in Brown Calfskin (Allan 6C) on top, compared to the Brevier Blackface in Black Highland Goatskin (Allan 20).
According to the measurements given on the site, the Blackface is slightly thinner and taller than the Clarendon, but when I stack them next to each other, the proportions look pretty much identical. Inside, the Clarendon offers a couple of advantages. In addition to the type not being quite so black (though it's by no means light), the self-pronouncing feature -- which in the Blackface goes so far as to break the name "Jesus" into two accented syllables every time it appears -- is absent, and brief chapter summaries are added. The cyclopedic concordance, which does double duty (as the name suggests) as both concordance and succinct encyclopedia, is present in both. The pagination is the same, so I assume they're identical.
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.