First Glimpse of R. L. Allan Personal Size Reference ESV
The second best thing to getting a package in the mail from R. L. Allan is getting an e-mail with photos attached. Nicholas Gray kindly sent along some photos of the new Personal Size Reference ESV. (For specs on the PSR, see my review.) These are advance copies with 1/5" wide ribbons, but don't worry, the production ribbons will be 3/10" wider.
Then there's the chocolate brown brown in the same configuration we saw with the last series of ESV1s. The ribbons are green, purple, and brown.
The black edition this time around has red ribbons instead of blue, reminiscent of the limited edition ESV1 offered recently.
These should be hitting the market here in the US early in October. The price is £90. The buffalo grain ESV3s have dropped in price to £65, and the ESV1s are currently out of print, awaiting a reprint in early 2010. In the meantime, Nicholas has just inspected running sheets from the Reader's Edition, on schedule for an early November launch, and says they look great: "The India paper is writeable and white and the bigger margins will please note-takers. The print is 8% bigger than the Classic reference editions and this enlargement is quite noticeable on the page."
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.