Upcoming EditionsJ. MARK BERTRAND32 Comments

News from R. L. Allan: Upcoming Editions

Upcoming EditionsJ. MARK BERTRAND32 Comments

There's already been some talk about these editions on the site, but I figured it was time to round up the available information in one place. R. L. Allan's will be introducing two new ESV formats this fall, along with the latest version of the beloved Allan's Journal. I asked Nicholas Gray for the latest details, and here they are. 

R. L. Allan's Personal Size Reference ESV

Coming in September

Ever since the Personal Size Reference ESV came out, I've wanted R. L. Allan to do their own edition ... and I haven't been alone. Judging from the e-mail that floods my inbox, many of you have wanted the same thing. Now it's happening. According to Nicholas Gray, they're being bound at this very moment: "We should see copies toward the end of September all being well."

The PSR will be available with semi-yapp, Highland goatskin covers in your choice of three colors: black, chocolate brown, and red. They'll have three big ribbons, and it sounds like they'll follow the styling cues of the latest ESV1. Price? £90. (Update: This is a Crossway-printed PSR identical in layout to the current edition, but bound by R. L. Allan. So yes, it's single column, just like the PSR I reviewed for the site.)

R. L. Allan's Journals
September/October

The newest version of the Allan's Journal will be making its debut soon, too. Two sizes will be offered. The smaller will be bound in the same highland goatskin as the Bible covers, and will sell for £20. I'm not sure about color availability, but I suppose it's possible we'll see black, dark brown, and red, corresponding to the PSR covers. (Update: The colors will be black, tan, and chocolate brown -- so I was close.) The larger ones will go for £25, and will be bound in black and antique brown buffalo grain goatskin. The journals are still about a month out, so I'm guessing they'll be available sometime in September or October.

R. L. Allan's Reader's Edition
November/December

In cooperation with EvangelicalBible.com, R. L. Allan is developing a "Reader's Edition" of the ESV, a large print, double column edition. It's being printed now, and should be available by the end of November. 

Royal License to Publish KJV
In addition to all this, Nicholas shared some good news:

"R L Allan have just been granted the Royal Licence under Letters Patent by Queen Elizabeth to publish the KJV in Scotland. Cambridge hold this privilege in England. Queen Victoria set this up in 1839 to protect the KJV text from bad editions, and in Scotland the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General act on the Queen's behalf to ensure that her Bible is properly printed and published -- by us! So this royal 'imprimatur' will appear on future Allan editions of the KJV and it will start with the reprint of the Lonprimer edition towards the end of this year."

With the 400th anniversary of the KJV's first printing in 1611 less than eighteen months away, it will be interesting to see how many new editions of the Authorized Version see the light of day. 

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.