The Thomas Nelson NKJV Maclaren in Black Goatskin

There’s truly nothing like a nice goatkskin Bible. Even more, there’s nothing like a nice goatskin Bible with a great layout! You’re going to get all of that and more from Thomas Nelson in the new NKJV Maclaren goatskin edition.

This Bible isn’t listed as Premier Collection, but it honestly should be. I think it’s as nice as any Premier Collection they’ve done, but the Maclaren is a series to itself so it doesn’t have that label. That being said, you get a nice clamshell box with this one with a black and red design.

When you open it, you’ll be greeted with the amazing smell of goatskin! This is a nice, soft, flexible black goatskin. It has a great grain pattern. There are five raised spine hubs and the words “HOLY BIBLE”, “New King James Version”, and “Thomas Nelson” are printed in gold foil on the spine.

There are black head and tail bands as well as a nice red under gold art gilt. This Bible features three double sided satin ribbons that are black, red, and light blue. I love Thomas Nelson’s ribbons, but these are a bit shorter than they usually do them. I still really like them, but would have preferred them to be just a bit longer (You’ve spoiled me Thomas Nelson. What can I say?)

Inside you’ll get a nice calfskin liner with gold perimeter gilt line. There are black vinyl end sheets, which I think is in an excellent choice. This Bible is of course also Smyth-sewn and edge lined for strength and durability.

My favorite thing about this Bible has to be the layout. It’s incredible! For starters, the paper is a 36 gsm. It makes the Bible thicker, but it’s great. It’s very opaque and the text is line matched of course to help even further. There is very little show through in this Bible.

The page layout is a double column verse-by-verse. References are horizontal across the bottom. One thing that makes this Bible great is the accent color. The subheadings, chapter numbers, verse numbers, and reference numbers are all in a regal blue color. Not only is this attractive, but it also makes navigation easier. If you’re preaching, teaching, or just studying, those verse numbers really pop to help you locate what you’re looking for quickly. Also worth mentioning is that words of Christ are in black in this edition.

The text itself is a nice, large 10.5 type size in Thomas Nelson’s NKJV Comfort Print font. I love how big and bold the print is. I’m all for larger fonts so this Bible really does it for me. I will also note that there’s not as much margin space because of the large font. If you’re looking for a Bible where you’ve got room to write in the margins, this probably isn’t the one you’re looking for.

However, in the back you’ll find several sheets of lined Bible paper, which is a nice feature for notes and references. Also included in the back are several full color, glossy maps. Given the design of this Bible, I would have preferred they been excluded, but I do know many still like maps.

All in all, this is an incredible Bible! Almost everything in the design of the goatskin Maclaren is perfect. Thomas Nelson hit a home run here and I highly recommend you grab one for yourself!

You can pick up your copy of the goatskin NKJV Maclaren on Amazon (affiliate).

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