Future EditionsJ. MARK BERTRAND11 Comments

First Look: Deluxe Compact ESV (Sienna / Crossroads Design)

Future EditionsJ. MARK BERTRAND11 Comments

Thanks to the intrepid Scott Kay, we can take our first look at the Deluxe Compact ESV from Crossway in its TruTone Sienna (Crossroads) incarnation. This is the successor to the original Compact Thinline, with a new layout, slightly enlarged proportions and a sewn binding. If you ask me, it's a big improvement. Let's take a look: Deluxe Compact ESV 1 Above: Each of the four editions currently available has a novelty cover, but the Sienna (Crossroads Design) option is the subtlest. I like the simulated grain and the variation in the brown color. And I can live with the design.

Deluxe Compact ESV 2
Above: The spine is branded with the trifecta "ESV, ESV crest, English Standard Version" some of you think is overkill. I don't mind, and the gilt-free execution here tones it down a bit.

Deluxe Compact ESV 3
Above: One ribbon, gilt edges, just like the Compact Thinline.

Deluxe Compact ESV 4
Above: Yoga. The cover is flexible, which is what I appreciate about the polyurethane approach. It isn't goatskin, but you can pick up one of these at Amazon for about $15.

Deluxe Compact ESV 5
Above: The page spread. Scott reports that it opens flat with a little effort. The binding is sewn, and that might improve with use. Smaller Bibles typically don't have the liquid aspect of the larger ones, even with flexible covers, so this is to be expected.

Deluxe Compact ESV 6
Above: Compared to the Compact Thinline (on top). You can see the difference, but it isn't major. The same briefcase pocket that currently holds my Compact Thinline should easily accommodate the Deluxe Thinline.

Deluxe Compact ESV 7
Above: This is what it's all about. The Deluxe Compact (on top) is still a small print edition, but it looks like a much easier read than the original Compact Thinline (underneath). If, like me, you love the form factor of the original, getting the improved reading experience with only a small sacrifice in size is very welcome.

Deluxe Compact ESV 8
Above: A page spread showing prose and poetry. I'd love to see a single column setting in this form factor, but until that happens, I expect to be very happy with this new compact edition.

Thanks, Scott, for snapping these photos! I don't know about the rest of you, but with the improved layout and the sewn binding, I really think this one's a candidate for rebinding.

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.