The Cambridge Wide Margin Reference Bible in Black Goatskin

Jun 11

Jun 11 The Cambridge Wide Margin Reference Bible in Black Goatskin

I love Cambridge Bibles and they make some of my favorite editions! The Topaz and the Clarion have become favorites for me and so I'm excited to have the opportunity to review another Bible from them. Today I'm reviewing their Wide Margin Reference Bible. The particular Bible I'm reviewing is the ESV in Black Goatskin and Red Letter. I should also note that the edition I'm reviewing was printed in 2019 and uses the 2016 ESV text. They make this Bible in a plethora of options including Goatskin and black letter, hardback, and calfsplit. They also make it in several different translations.

This Bible comes in a nice clam shell box with lots of information about the Bible on the back of it. I personally love the goatskin that Cambridge uses. That is one of my favorite things about their Bibles. Their goatskin feels premium to the touch with a nice, grainy texture and has a great flex to it. The words, "HOLY BIBLE" are printed in gold on the front cover. The spine has five hubs that aren't raised. Printed in gold going down the spine are the words, "HOLY BIBLE", "English Standard Version", "Wide Margin Edition", and "CAMBRIDGE".

The page edges have a red under gold art gilt. There are two black ribbon markers that are honestly a little underwhelming. I think if Cambridge were to upgrade these, it would make the Bible feel more premium. The Bible also has red and gold head and tail bands, which look really nice against the black cover. This Bible is Smyth-sewn, which is an absolute must for an edition like this.

When you open this Bible, you'll find that it's edge-lined. Cambridge even includes a card in the box explaining the edge-lining process that tells you why it's better than everything else. If your premium Bible isn't edge-lined then you don't have a premium Bible. We'll just leave it at that. They use a synthetic liner in this Bible that's just like the Clarion. I was somewhat surprised by this choice just because this Bible has such a big footprint. I'm not sure why they wouldn't use calfskin aside from maybe wanting to keep cost down. There may be another benefit to the synthetic liner that I'm unaware of though. The words, "Goatskin leather cover" are at the bottom inside cover stamped in gold. The front of the Bible also has a single presentation page.

The main feature of this Bible is the wide margin. This Bible is a premium Bible that is meant to be written in. I find the layout of this Bible very interesting as well. Cambridge has a popular, highly portable Bible called the Pitt Minion. It has a small footprint and pretty small font size. The Wide-Margin Reference Bible is a beefed up Pitt Minion. They have taken the same layout and they've increased the font size and given it a more extensive concordance. This is a pretty cool move by Cambridge in my opinion!

Two notes about the layout, however. One is that margins on the outside and bottom are larger than the top and inside. I personally would like more margin room on the inside since this is a double column Bible. This Bible also has center column cross-references. That definitely isn't my preference, but the page size is so generous that it doesn't bother me as much as usual. I also notice that cross references that don't fit in the center column carry over to the bottom right of the page under the textual notes, which I find to be an interesting choice that I've not noticed in any other Bible (that being said, I don't spend much time in center column reference Bibles usually).

This paper is thicker than what you'll encounter on many other premium Bibles. I'm told it's a 38 gsm and it has a slight cream color to it. Cambridge built this Bible for note taking and you can feel it just by touching the paper. It feels thicker and has minimal ghosting. The text is line-matched and I find it to be nice and dark. Even the red letter sections of this edition are a nice medium to dark red. The font itself is about an 8 point font in Lexicon No. 1. I always like the font Cambridge uses, but if smaller fonts bother you then you may find yourself passing on this Bible. However, I believe Crossway uses the same font size in their ESV Journaling Bibles so this is pretty standard and still definitely readable. I think if I were someone who normally underlines, I may opt to highlight in this Bible because the lines are pretty close together in the paragraphs. Underlining is definitely possible, but I might just take the easier route here.

I love the features in the back of this Bible. It has the ESV Concordance and after that has columns labeled in alphabetical order where you can write your own concordance entries. This is a really cool feature! There are also quite a few lined pages in the back where you can add more notes. After that You have 15 Cambridge Bible Maps. I know some people really like maps, but in an edition like this that's meant for writing, I may have left out the maps and added more pages for notes, but I'm just stating my preference here. I will say that Cambridge's Maps are some of the nicest out there. They are rich in color and printed on Bible paper instead of card stock, which both looks and feels really nice.

All in all, if you love taking notes and want a premium Bible to do it in and you can handle the 8 point font size then I think you'll really like this Bible. If you're going to invest in a Bible meant for notes then I recommend going with the goatskin option. Bibles filled with notes are meant to be passed down and the goatskin version of this Bible will be a treasured heirloom. Cambridge has made a fantastic Bible that your children will fight over one day.

You can pick up your copy of the Cambridge Wide Margin Reference Bible on Amazon. (affiliate)

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this Bible from Cambridge in exchange for a fair and honest review.