The NIV Heritage Passagio Setting in brown LeatherSoft

The Passagio Setting from Zondervan seems to be something you love or hate. I’ve not really seen anyone talking about it from a “middle of the road” perspective. This reviewer has found himself on the side that loves it.

In this review I’m looking at the NIV Heritage Bible in the Passagio Setting in brown Leathersoft from Zondervan. I find this Bible to be both unique and perfect in size.

The brown leathersoft feels and looks great. I keep saying it, but artificial leather is just getting better and better. Zondervan’s Leathersoft is no exception. It has a nice, smooth feel, a great grain look, and when you open the cover it falls back down to being flat instead of keeping a curl.

The spine has four gold horizontal lines. A diamond shape outlines “HOLY BIBLE” in gold. At the bottom in gold are “NIV” and “ZONDERVAN.” There are brown head and tail bands. The page edges are gold. There are two double sided satin ribbons. They are nice and long and have a great width. They’re my favorite ribbons that Zondervan uses. One is brown and the other is gold. 

Inside is a light brown paste down liner with a gold circular design in the middle. To my surprise, Zondervan has included a gold perimeter gilt line, which is a nice touch on a Leathersoft edition. There is also a presentation page and family records pages. 

Another impressive feature on this edition is that Zondervan uses the same 36 gsm premium European Bible paper that comes on the higher end buffalo bound edition. Kudos to them for this choice! This means you get premium paper no matter which edition you choose!

Something I love in this Bible is that the text is blue. Yes, you read that right. It’s blue. This isn’t an average black letter Bible, it’s blue! From a design perspective, I love this choice. It looks great, it’s consistent, and it’s different. Way to take a chance Zondervan! You nailed it!

I also love the gold-ish accent color they decided to go with. Page headings, section subheadings and page numbers are all in this gold accent color. The page headings indicating chapter and number also run vertically in the outer top corner of each page. I also found this to be a really cool design choice that sets this Bible apart. 

This is a paragraph layout, but what has drawn a lot of attention is the Passagio setting. Several have expressed distaste because of short poetry sections where the single column transitions to double for maybe two lines, which breaks up the reading experience. I personally have no problem with this. Is it novel? Yes. Is it interesting? I also think the answer is yes. I love how it clearly indicates sections of poetry where one may have not recognized them in a regular single or double column setting. 

The font is a 10 point with Zondervan’s NIV Comfort Print typeface. It is line matched, which is impressive with the uniqueness of the Passagio setting!

In the back, you’ll also find some helpful tables including “The Miracles of Jesus” and “Prayers of the Bible.” There are also several full color glossy maps, which I could gladly do without.

All in all, I think this Bible is a home run and I applaud Zondervan for doing something different. With great paper, a unique setting and style, and beautiful ribbons, this Bible is a great bang for your buck! Well done Zondervan!

You can pick up your copy of the NIV Heritage Passagio at Amazon (affiliate).

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