The 2021 ESV Heirloom Heritage in Black Goatskin

I fell in love with premium Bibles after being introduced to Crossway’s Heirloom Bibles that were produced in the Netherlands. The fact that Crossway made their Bibles in the Netherlands put them a step above any of the other big name publishers. Then Crossway moved their premium line to China. It was not received well. Quality took a nose dive and they didn’t just end up on the same level of other big publishers—they fell below them. It was a heartbreaking move.

No one can ever say Crossway doesn’t listen to the customers. In a huge move, they have moved their Heirloom line back to the Netherlands. This is a move many have been excited about and now these Bibles are about to hit the market. It is my joy to bring you a review of the 2021 ESV Heirloom Heritage in black goatskin.

I had never seen a Heritage before so I’ll go ahead and spoil things at the beginning. It’s amazing. I’ve always loved the Legacy, but the Heritage is even better in my opinion. This instantly became my favorite Heirloom Bible that Crossway makes. But enough gushing, let’s talk about why.

First, with the Heirloom line you’ll get the classy black and gold box that is signature to Crossway. The design is simple and elegant. It’s a two piece box. Something Crossway does that I’ve always felt sets them apart from other Bible manufacturers is that they wrap your Bible in a velvet material. You open the box and see that velvet and you’re like, “Wow!” They also did this was the China line of Heirlooms, but it really didn’t match the quality. Velvet belongs with these premium Netherlands Bibles.

When you pull the Bible out of the box, the quality is immediately evident. This is what a Crossway premium Bible is supposed to be. The goatskin is soft and supple. The Bible is so flexible. Handling this Bible was like being reminded of my first love. It’s an instant reminder of why Crossway was on top among the big publishers. There’s just no comparison.

The Bible is a black goatskin. It has four spine hubs with a really nice tooling around them. In gold on the spine are the words, “HOLY BIBLE”, the ESV logo, “ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION”, and “CROSSWAY.” The Bible also has black and gold head and tail bands and red under gold art gilt that looks a bit more like a salmon color, which is a signature of Crossway. I will say that I think the art gilt is a major improvement over the Chinese editions. I felt like the Chinese art gilt looked like they had sprayed glitter all over the page edges and even came off on your fingers a bit. This is way better.

One thing that isn’t better unfortunately is the bookmarks. Crossway’s bookmarks have always felt lacking. This continues to be the case. There are four double-sided satin bookmarks here in different colors. I like the number and I like the color variation, but the bookmarks themselves always just seem cheap. They’re narrow and short. I truly feel that the only thing lacking with this Bible is the bookmarks. They would look so much better if they were wider and longer. This would be an easy fix.

Inside you’ve got a gold perimeter gilt line and a black calfskin liner. This liner feels incredible and it gives this Bible an incredible flex! The Bible is Smyth-sewn and edge-lined. It feels as though Crossway went with black vinyl end sheets and it’s a great choice. I think it contributes to the ultra-flexibility of this Bible.

The beginning of the Bible has a presentation page and family records pages. The layout of this Bible just blows me away. It’s a single column layout in a hand-sized design. But even better, it has a great font size and great spacing between lines of text. There are no references and translation notes are at the bottom of the page.

The paper is beautiful with almost no ghosting. Crossway’s website calls it a “high quality Bible paper,” but most likely it is a 28 gsm. The text is line matched. What’s really impressive for a Bible of this size is that there is a really nice margin size on all sides. Especially in the gutter, there is no risk of the text dipping in there.

Speaking of the text, this Bible has a 9.25 Lexicon font and honestly, because of the line spacing, it looks bigger!. This has to be the feature that impresses me the most. This is a great looking font size for this size Bible and it makes it the type of Bible that you want to use all the time and take with you everywhere. I can’t say enough good things about it.

The back of the Bible does not have a concordance, but does have several full color maps. I’d honestly prefer the concordance, but most people know my opinions on Bible maps so I won’t go into that here.

Crossway is back! This is the premium ESV you’ve been looking for. I highly recommend the Heirloom Heritage. I applaud Crossway for listening to their customers and moving their Heirloom line back to the Netherlands. Grab a Heritage because I guarantee you’ll be happy you did. Be sure to check out the photo below showing an older ESV Heirloom Legacy from the Netherlands compared to the Heritage.

You can pick up the Heirloom Heritage from Crossway or on Amazon (affiliate).

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this Bible from Crossway in exchange for an honest review.