The ESV Heirloom Thinline in Horween Leather
I’m teaming up with the fine folks at Westminster Books to bring you a review of the new ESV Heirloom Thinline in Horween Leather. I love partnering with Westminster because they offer great deals on books and ESV Bibles. I highly recommend checking them out and supporting a great Christian bookstore.
The Horween Thinline they sent me is the newest addition to Crossway’s Heirloom line of Bibles. Truly, I think the Thinline and Horween Leather are a perfect pairing. The Thinline is a Bible that’s made to be taken with you. Horween is a leather that is made to take a beating. Put them together and you have a premium Bible that’s ready for anything you throw at it.
I’m a huge fan of Horween leather. It was a great move by Crossway to start using it. I love that it’s rugged and durable. I also love the character it shows. Out of the box, my Thinline already has good patina and scratch marks in the leather. If you don’t like character in the leather then I don’t recommend the Horween, but if you do like something that will gain more character with use then you’re going to love this leather!
The spine of this Bible has four raised hubs. Blind stamped on the spine are “HOLY BIBLE”, “ESV”, “ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION”, and the Crossway logo. Blind stamping looks so good on the Horween and if you’re not familiar, it means there’s no gold or silver foil in the stamp, but the words and logos are just stamped into the leather with nothing extra. It looks really good on the Horween.
The page edges are Crossway’s signature red (or salmon) under gold. The Bible has brown head and tail bands and also has two brown, double-sided satin ribbon markers. I do wish Crossway would use better ribbons, but that’s a hobby horse we’ve been riding a long time.
Inside there’s a brown calfskin liner with brown vinyl end sheets. Being an Heirloom, this Bible is Smyth-sewned and edge-lined for durability. These are features you definitely want since you’re going to put this Thinline through its paces!
The format of the Bible is a double-column with an 8 point type. This keeps things nice and thin. Textual notes appear at the bottom of the pages. Line spacing is very good. This reads really well for an 8 point type size. I am guessing the paper is a 28 gsm, but it is very opaque. The text isn’t line-matched, but that really doesn’t bother me. I’m unsure why they didn’t line match it, but I truly don’t think it hinders the reading experience.
In the back, you’ll find a Concordance and maps. as well as a few blank pieces of paper. I like the blank pieces as there’s little room for notes in an edition like this, but I could leave out the Concordance and maps and go even thinner for this edition.
Truthfully, I really like this Bible and I really like it in Horween. It just seems like they’re a perfect pairing. The other perfect pairing is to get this Bible from Westminster Books! They’re an amazing bookstore and worthy of your support!
Pick up your copy of the Heirloom Thinline in Horween at Westminster Books!
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this Bible from WTS Books in exchange for a fair and honest review.
