Vintage Goodness: Two Mid-Century Editions

BlackCalfskinCambridgeDouble ColumnGoatskinRedRSVRVThomas Nelson

Sep 15

No, you're not looking at the latest releases from R. L. Allan or Cambridge. These photos show a couple of near mint mid-century Bibles. The burgundy is a full yapp Revised Version published by Cambridge in 1949, while the black is Nelson's first edition RSV dating from 1952. Alexander Plump, a reader in Dusseldorf, Germany, is the fortunate owner. He snapped these pictures for our enjoyment.

Cambridge RV (1949)
I'm a sucker for full yapp edges, and the color looks great. Whether the photos are color accurate or not I can't say, but if the red in the snaps is anything like real life, I give it a thumbs up.

Nelson RSV 1st Edition (1952)
On the outside, everything looks conservative ... but imagine the impact that clean, modern layout must have had when readers opened this Bible.

Many thanks to Alex for sharing the photos!

J. MARK BERTRAND

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.

http://www.lectio.org

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