The CSB Handcrafted Large Print Thinline

I’ve really enjoyed the CSB Handcrafted Series. As a serious CSB user, the Handcrafted line offers truly amazing Bibles at an affordable price. Does the Handcrafted Large Print Thinline continue this tradition? Let’s take a look.

I’m reviewing both the black and brown goatskin options in this Bible. To be honest, they are very much the same aside from goatskin color and liner color. My black goatskin edition has some very cool scars on the front cover. The goatskin feels quite soft and I personally really like it. The size puts me in the mind of the Omega.

The spine features three tooled bars stamped into the leather. Do I wish that Holman would moved towards raised hubs? Yes. But that’s just my preference. In gold is the CSB logo, “HOLY BIBLE”, “CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE”, and “HOLMAN”. The page edges feature red under gold art gilt. There are three double-sided satin ribbon bookmarks in gold, black, and red. I do wish these bookmarks were a bit longer, but they still do the job.

Inside is a black calf liner with black vinyl end sheets or brown in the the brown edition. There is a gold perimeter gilt line and the Bible is edge lined and Smyth-sewn for durability.

I love the layout of this Bible. It puts me in the mind of Crossway’s Omega, but with a bigger font size and no references (both of these pluses in my opinion). It’s a double column layout with an 11 point type size. Textual notes are at the bottom. Holman uses red accent colors in this Bible, which I am a fan of. Page headings, page numbers, chapter numbers, and verse numbers are all accented in red. Otherwise, all text—including words of Christ—are in black.

Where you may find a problem with this Bible is the paper unfortunately. The paper is a bit thin and ghosting is quite noticeable. The text being line matched helps, but one thing that is truly unfortunate is that there are some dark ink spots showing through in some poetry sections. While the Bible is still useable and I really do like it, this should be unacceptable in a premium Bible.

In the back you’ll find a helpful “Where to Turn” section that features Scripture references that apply to common life issues. You’ll also find full color maps. I would love for a Thinline like this to have no maps, but I do think Holman’s maps are some of the best done.

All in all, I really like this Bible. The paper may bother some, but I like it and plan to use it quite a bit. A thinline like this is quite useful and the large type size makes it even better. Your mileage may vary, but I find this to be a solid offering from Holman.

You can pick up your copy on Amazon (affiliate) or from Lifeway.

Disclaimer: I received copies of these Bibles from Holman in exchange for a fair and honest review.