Heritage Edition Bible and Prayer Book Black Calf Split CPKJ424

I love this Bible and definitely recommend it. In terms of the physical attributes, it is a solid value for sure. The calf-split leather looks nice and is on the firm side. While it will lay flat (especially after some use), it is not like a floppy goatskin Bible. Easy to hold open with one hand. I’d say the cover will definitely take some abuse. I love the paper. I actually like it better than the fancier paper in my Cambridge Turquoise KJV Bible. It is thicker and more robust and easier to grab and turn. It is the same paper that is in the Cambridge large print cameo text KJV Bible. Just in case you were familiar with that. It’s also a great size. Not too big to travel with but still has a good readable font. Even for my 60 year old eyes. I also really like the NRSV UE translation. I’d say it is somewhere in between the NIV and the ESV. It’s on the literal side, but still flows really nicely. I find it a great accompaniment to the KJV version. I know in today’s world there are all kinds of camps in terms of what translation is “best” or most faithful to the original. I am a translation geek and have quite a number of them and personally enjoy reading them all. After spending time with it, the NRSV UE is high on my list. Finally, if you’re not British, don’t be afraid of the “British text.” The few words that are spelled in British English are a non-issue to this American reader.

So here is the good and the bad. First off, I love this prayerbook overall. While I obviously have a '79 BCP I find the humanist bent of that book a little much for me at times. I also have truly grown to appreciate the beauty in the language of the 1662. The real bonus of this book is the Bible being connected to the BCP. I do not use the supplied lectionary but I have made my own that takes me through the whole Bible and carrying both a prayerbook and a Bible around separately was a real pain. I find this combination convenient and while I prefer the ESV I don't mind the KJV (its certainly better than the NRSV) as the rest of the prayers are in old English. I was debating as to whether I should get the leather or hardback but I am glad that I sprung for the leather. Now for the not so great. While I believe the '79 to be a bit humanist I would say that the 1662 is a little over the top penitential at times. For instance, the prayers for the sick basically says that God made the person sick because of their sin and to teach that wicked sinner a lesson. I like the daily office (including the Psalms), the rite for Eucharist, the Articles and Catechism, and perhaps the marriage order but the rest of the prayerbook is a little much for me. Also, to address the found size. There is no getting around it the Bible found is small. I would have personally opted for a larger book (both hieght/ width as well as thickness) before allowing the font size to drop below 8. However, with that said, it is not unreadable and I usually just use a little pocket sized magnifier that works great as a bookmark as well (since it is sadly lacking in ribbons). I can read the Bible w/o the magnifier but why strain the eyes? Lastly, while I am glad that I got the leather bound edition the leather is not as nice as the Moroccan Leather offered with the 1662 w//o the Bible. All in all it was a great purchase and I don't feel sorry for having it at all. I use the daily office everyday and read the Bible regularly without a problem. If you love your Anglican heritage or just are in the market for a solid orthodox prayerbook that isn't smeared with Romish prayers and doctrine, this is the book for you!

I wish I had bought this on amazon. On this sight its about $20 cheaper. Any way I see a lot of negative reviews on the web for this edition. I think its right nearly perfect. First off the paper is 45gsm which means its thicker and whiter than paper back in the 60s. Because of the line matching and new paragraph form with new typesetting; it makes the KJV a whole lot more readable than most 11pt font kjv. There are none of those pesky self quotes and no red letter. The only drawback in my opinion is that the bible is in the back, like it was an afterthought. They should have shown more reverence to the word of God than sticking His book in the back of a man made prayer book. The prayer book itself has super huge fonts compared to the Pitt minion KJV. That's is a little tacky too. I would have done the opposite to this edition. I would have put the bible in front with large font and put the prayer book in the back in tiny font. The book would still be about the same thickness. The size of the book is hand sized and 1 7/8 inches thick, looks like an 18th century children's bible. The leather is calf split, for those not in the know. Calf split is the opposite of calfskin. Split is very hard and extremely pebbly. Skin is soft supple and so smooth it shines. I was disappointed at first by the calf dplit , but after I used it a little it loosened up enough that I can tell that its real leather and not bonded. It feels like super thick bonded leather but its not, the stamped this leather with pebble grain hense why it looks fake. But you get what you pay for. If you want better leather then get the hardcover and get it rebound you will be looking at around $280 bucks going that road. Quality leather costs. Overall I am very pleased and would recommend to anyone wanting a Pitt minion. If goatskin or calfskin don't matter to you then go with this edition because you get the 2 most influential English books ever published. Oh yeah there is no Apocrypha, technically this should get four stars but since I really like Cambridge I'm keeping it 5. The purple edition is actually a very dark deep purple kinda like what navy is to blue. I wish I had gotten the purple instead but the black just looks right; you know? The fit and finish is very nice when you open it up the cover pushes out against your hand almost like its caressing the text the way a mother holds her baby. That is how covets are supposed to work. So kudos to the Italian binders. I absolutely love the size it is as thick as a study bible but as small as a hand size, it is like they built it to fit my style of hands. This bible is very very sturdy and was built to be used, and use it I will. THIS IS A PRAYER BOOK / BIBLE. Just wanted there to be no confusion to anyone else out there. The prayer book is more like a devotional. Some of the doctrine I strongly disagree with, such as saying that God tempts us and the reason why your sick is because your evil and have sin and God will cure you when you repent. I'm sorry but that is very very wrong and goes to show you that people back in the 1600s were as ignorant as we are today. Other than that most of the prayer book was a valiant love letter to Gods word. Thank you for taking time to read my review and considering this edition. (Seriously though, its well worth the money).

A Side by side comparison of the Oxford NRSV with the Apocrypha and Book of Common Prayer in black genuine leather, to the Cambridge KJV with the Book of Common Prayer in Purple calfsplit leather. I received both Bibles undamaged. They were packed in their own cardboard boxes and were inside retail boxes that were both sturdy enough to be used for storing the Bible in when on the shelf. Upon opening the boxes I was impressed with the purple color of the Cambridge Bible. The Cambridge cover was also more supple out of the box. This is due to the Cambridge being covered in calfsplit leather which is split cowhide leather as opposed to the Oxfords cover which was your typical pigskin leather. The Oxford was ornamented with a gold stamped cross on the front cover as well as a gilt line around the inside perimeter of the cover. Both covers have a perimeter groove pressed into them. The Cambridge and the Oxford alike have gold gilt page edges. I thought the two purple ribbon markers were attractive. The Oxford has three yellow/gold ribbon markers that were pretty nice even if they were a bit more narrow. I would have liked to see three ribbon markers in the Cambridge because of the added BCP. The Oxford was surprisingly smaller than the Cambridge even though it had the Apocrypha and the Cambridge did not. Due to all of the added text there had to be a compromise. I dont think it was a very wise one. The Biblical text in the NRSV is very small. At 6 pt. it is still legibly printed, but does present a strain for longer reading. I think it would be fine for carrying to Church as long as you bring your reading glasses. If you do have poor vision I would not recommend this Bible for the Bible portion. The BCP is perfectly legible being printed in 8 pt. font. The Cambridge suffers from the same problem albeit not of necessity in my opinion. Of course I am not privy to all design constraints and I am certain there are reasons for making the Biblical text 6 pt. and the BCP text a very generous 11 pt. I would have liked to see the BCP down to 8 pt. and the KJV up to 8 pt. I think that could have been achieved. Both Bibles have sewn bindings and are case bound. The Cambridge is printed and bound in Italy by L.E.G.O. SpA. Vicenza. It is the KJV Pitt Minion, Reference Second Edition setting. That would be a double column, paragraph format layout with references in the center column. The small 6.75 pt. font is clearly and uniformly printed on very good and opaque Bible paper. The Book of Common Prayer is mostly single column format. It is printed in large 11 pt. font making it easy to read. It is also printed to the same standards as the rest of the text. Both Bibles were designed and had their layouts done by Blue Heron Bookcraft in Battleground Washington. When we compare the two Bibles there are some big differences in quality. The Korean printed and bound Oxford uses a less opaque paper that tends to wrinkle, while the Cambridge is very smooth. The print in the Oxford is not as well inked as the Cambridge. The Oxford is a double column paragraph format with very limited footnotes. It is the NRSV translation. Both Bibles are black letter editions. The Oxford does have some gold colored and heavily textured papers utilized for the presentation and family records pages. They look nice, but can be a chore to write on contrasted to the typical Cambridge presentation pages. The Book of Common Prayer is mostly single column and printed with large 8 pt. font. The Apocrypha is printed the same as the Biblical text. Neither have maps or helps in the back. The Cambridge has, Common Prayer at the top, Holy Bible in the middle and, the Cambridge logo at the foot of the spine stamped in gold. The Oxford has, The Book of Common Prayer at the top and, The Holy Bible underlined and, Apocrypha immediately under it in the middle, and, Oxford at the bottom of the spine. The Cambridge is a bit larger in length and width, but they are about the same thickness. The Oxford might be a hair thicker. Both are aesthetically pleasing and pleasant to hold, however the Cambridge is the winner in the tactilely pleasing category. The calfsplit leather just is so much better than the shiny pigskin leather of the Oxford. I honestly thought the Oxford was bonded leather when I opened it. The head and foot bands on the Oxford were not properly glued down either. For quality of assembly I would have to give the Cambridge the win. The Cambridge is geared more towards Anglicans and the Oxford is geared more for Episcopalians in my opinion. At least after reading much out of the BCP in each one that is my impression. The Cambridge utilizes the 1662 Book of Common Prayer while the Oxford uses 1979 Book of Common Prayer. If you are looking for an in depth list of what both BCPs include Im not going to do that, however I do have pictures of the table on contents pages that have those lists. You can see them on my Flickr page. The Cambridge is almost twice the price of the Oxford, but in my opinion it is worth it. I also like the KJV more than the NRSV. I am neither Anglican nor Episcopalian so I am not biased one way or another towards one of these Bibles. If you must have an Apocrypha in your volume then you would have to go with the Oxford. Both are sturdy and well made. They should provide years of service as long as your eyes can take the small text.

Glad to see some NRSVue editions without the apocrypha. This is a simple, lovely middle of the road size Bible that is large enough for an everyday Bible but not too big to go in a bag. It feels nice, with some breaking in will lay quite flat. The ghosting however will probably keep it from being my daily Bible. It is line matched which helps, but I can read the page behind with great ease and I find that so distracting (this is admittedly my pet peeve with most Bibles).

Overall , I found the combination of BCP and KJV a great idea. However, there are far more negatives than positives. The BCP font size is so large you could read it from five feet away. On the flip side, the KJV font is so small you need a magnifying glass to read it. To keep the book at about the same number of pages, Cambridge could have reduced the BCP font by one-third nad increased the KJV font by double and then it would be a usable combination. As this book now stands a person can use the BCP "half" but one needs another KJV bible to read.

I thought I was getting a book of prayers from the bible; instead I get a book of common prayers used by Ministers with KJV bible. Print is super small, bible is located in the back of the book. Not what I expected,

I can't give this edition 4 stars because the Apocrypha was left out. Otherwise, this is exactly what I want. One can get the 1928 BCP with the KJV and Apocrypha for $120.00 in Genuine Leather from a Traditional Anglican publisher, but I prefer the 1662 BCP. Because some daily readings are from Ecclesiaticus (Sirach) and Wisdom, it is a challenge to use the readings in the 1662 BCP with the KJV without Apocrypha. Christians used the Apocrypha for reading but not for doctrine until the Council of Trent, when the Roman Catholic Church elevated the Apocrypha to full canonicity. This led most Protestants to react by removing the Apocrypha from the Bible altogether. The Anglican Church and the Lutherans, as well as the early Old Order Mennonites and the Orthodox Church, continued to keep the Apocrypha in their bible, choosing not to react to the Roman changes. When Lutherans came to the USA, KJV bible societies did not have the Apocrypha, so the Apocrypha fell out of use with American Lutherans generally, until recently, when the ESV translation was released under separate cover. Mennonites, even the Old Order, have been affected by American Protestantism and many no longer read the Apocrypha, either. Those who like the original 1611 KJV know that the Apocrypha was included by the Anglican Church. So one can buy this product and buy the Apocrypha separately, buy the 1928 BCP with KJV and Apocrypha, or buy a KJV with Apocrypha and a bonded leather 1662 or 1928 BCP. I think the last way is what I will have to do. However, if one doesn't read the Apocrypha, this would be almost perfect.

Churches that still use the BCP 1662 and AV in liturgical use are few and far between in this day and age. But I use this for my personal devotions (the daily office and daily Bible reading) and it is a real joy to have both the BCP and AV in a single volume. Another reviewer made the point that this version doesn't contain the Apocrypha. That is true but as a Reformed churchman doesn't bother me in the slightest. (The lectionary would be better off it just stuck to the canonical books, leaving the reading of non-canonical books up to the discretion of individual Christians; this position is more consonant with Art VI's view of the Apocrypha than including readings from it in the lectionary). I do find it rather odd that this reviewer would think that "those who don't like the apocryphal books aren't likely to buy an edition of the Bible with the Book of Common Prayer bound in anyway." Why ever not? Has he never met a Reformed churchman? One thing I like about this version is the fact that the text of the Bible has been put into paragraphs and that poetry has been indented. In modern Bible versions that is not at all unusual, but it is still not that common in editions of the Authorized Version. One thing I find a little odd, however, is the significant difference in the size of the typeface between the Prayer Book and the Bible. The Prayer Book is set in 11.6 pt Lexicon No. 1A while the Bible is set in the same typeface but 6.75/7 pt. The prayer book typeface comes across almost as "large print" while the Bible typeface is smaller than normal sized print. To give you an indication of the difference in typeface size the Prayer Book (including the Psalter, 39 Articles and the Ordinal) takes up 630 pages while the whole Bible (Old and New Testaments) takes up just 969 pages (only around 1½ times the thickness of the Prayer Book). Why such a significant difference in typeface size? The typeface in the prayer book could have been made a bit smaller and the Bible a fraction bigger. Another way the overall experience could be improved is by including a few maps with the Bible for the benefit of the reader and also by increasing the number of ribbon markers. This edition comes with two ribbon markers. That would be fine for a Bible on its own (eg one ribbon to mark one's place in the Old Testament and another to mark one's place in the New Testament) but in a combined Prayer Book and Bible a few extra ribbon markers would not go astray since one is regularly turning up places in the Prayer Book as well as in the Bible. Obviously, there's a limit to how many ribbon markers that can be affixed to a book of this size. However, in my view four ribbon markers would be a good number (although if there was space for more I wouldn't object to an additional one or two): one to mark one's spot in the Old Testament, one to mark one's spot in the New Testament, one to mark one's spot in the Prayer Book Psalter and one to mark one's spot in the collects as one works through the church year. The Bible text is black letter throughout (i.e. the words of Christ are not printed separately in red ink as occurs in some Bible versions). Some people will see this as a negative; I see it as a positive. Also this Bible also contains no section headings (something which has become a commonplace in modern Bible translations but still not too common in modern editions of the Authorized Version). Again, some people will see this as a negative; I see it as a positive. In conclusion, for anyone wanting to use the BCP 1662 and the AV together this edition comes recommended.

Bible et livre de prière superbe, de qualité et très pratique. J'appréhendais la taille 6 de la police de caractère pour la bible, mais il n'en n'est rien tout est parfaitement lisible. Excellents détails et utilisation du livre de prières en police 8 très lisible. Le livre des psaumes y est également repris en totalité ce qui évite de chercher le chapitre correspondant dans la bible. Il manque juste une table des poids et mesures. Achat à recommander.

Great Bible that was an awesome price. The book of prayer is also really good for the soul.

This is a truly beautiful book. I've fallen in love with it, and really want to give it five stars - but I can't, not quite. There's one glaring omission which just nicks off that last star. First, here's what's great. The 1662 Book of Common Prayer - unbeatable. Then, under the same cover, the sonorous and majestic text of the King James Bible, in a paragraphed edition (that is, rather than every verse being a separate paragraph, the text is broken up into natural prose paragraphs and lined-out poetry - which is so much easier and more pleasant to read). Then a gorgeous and very durable leather binding - well, with Cambridge you know that's going to be great. Could be the perfect Prayer Book and Bible combination. Could be - but isn't, not quite. Why not? Two words: no apocrypha. Now not everyone likes an apocrypha in their Bible (these are the ... well, shall we say "disputed" books of the Bible? The ones Roman Catholics and Orthodox accept, Protestants deny, and we Anglicans - as with everything else - like to sit on the fence about!) But the Book of Common Prayer includes a lectionary for Morning and Evening Prayer, and the lectionary requires readings from the apocrypha. So without the text of those disputed books inside the covers, you know you simply haven't got everything you need in one place with this book, even though it appears to have been designed with that in mind. It's a silly omission, in my view - those who don't like the apocryphal books aren't likely to buy an edition of the Bible with the Book of Common Prayer bound in anyway. Frustrating, really. But the book is so beautiful anyway that I've fallen in love with it, and I'm going to give it a good four stars. Hey Cambridge - how about making another edition that gets everything right? Now that would be something ...

I am a Bible collector. I especially like Cambridge Bibles. The idea of having the BCP and the KJV in one volume is very appealing. But, for me, there is a problem with the execution here. The BCP is at the front of the book, and the enlarged text is used. The KJV is the pitt minion edition (at the back of the book) . Although the Book looks great from the outside (as I would expect from Cambridge), when you look inside this edition, the lack of text size continuity really bothers me. So much so, that I've decided to send it back. If Cambridge ever publish this book with equal sized text in the BCP and KJV, it would be an essential purchase for me. I normally love Cambridge Bibles, and I was intrigued by this edition. But unfortunately the BCP text was too big, and the KJV text was too small. To be fair, maybe I'm being a little fussy, and I do still collect Cambridge Bibles. However, for me this version didn't quite work.