ESV Single Column Heritage Bible (Trutone, Black)

Great quality, prompt delivery

It's nice to have a single column edition, this is my first and I enjoy reading this way. The printing quality here is good, the line spacing and the serif font are all pleasant to read. These are ultra-thin pages, as you expect with most Bible printings, so you can see a bit of the opposite side while reading a page. There are color maps on thicker paper in the back, which is a nice bonus.I have a nitpick about the gilded edges - in my opinion they don't really add anything of value and here they have caused some of the pages to stick together. Not to the point of causing any damage, but making it easy to flip a page and accidentally bring the next one with it because the edges are stuck together. They'll separate for you if you take a moment to help them along but it is a bit of an annoyance when you're breaking this in. Second, I don't think the cover looks as nice as it does in the picture. It's pretty thin faux leather and feels like the first pleather wallet I was given as a child 30 years ago. Like a pleather wallet, though, I bet it will last a long time.Also, just a note that this isn't a red-letter edition. I was a little surprised to flip through John and see all black print. That doesn't affect my assessment of the product, just something I didn't notice until I got my hands on it.

I know this is described as a heritage Bible, but that part of it really isn't important to me though I will talk about it here.In the front you have a place for “presented to” and “presented by” and on what date or occasion. On the next page a place for five marriages. On the next page you have a place for seven births. Then on the next page you have a place for seven deaths. That's all there is to the heritage part of this.I actually wanted this Bible because it's single column and it has very little distractions in it. For me personally this is something I really really like and I always look for Bibles with this format. Having one column of text makes it easier to read as a narrative rather than study and having some of the distractions removed is extremely helpful. There are references and translation notes on the pages, but they're minimized within the text with superscript numbers for reference, and the actual information is on the bottom of the page so it's not intruding into your peripheral vision while you're reading.Psalms and Proverbs are set up nicely with verse numbers on the edge of the margin. They are a little bit distracting but not much. Quotations of other scripture and poetry is formatted as such with an indentation in the text.The only thing this one doesn't have and I wish it did is red letter for the words of Christ. It's really not necessary, but we're all so used to it that now it's really nice to have.There's nothing else in the back of this except for some blank pages and color maps. The maps are nice and they're on thick paper so the colors don't bleed through. You can actually see what's on each page.This Bible is thicker than most and maybe that's playing into the heritage idea like you'd set it on your table or have it as the family Bible. My copy came with the gilt edges all stuck together. So as you go to new passages pages they gently peel apart right on the edge. But it's not a problem. It's just an observation.It doesn't lay flat until you get toward the end of Genesis. Before that point it will close. Maybe over time it will loosen up and lay flat there too.Overall, it's a really nice Bible.

ESV Bibles - Single Column Heritage Bible (TruTone, Black) is a very well-made imitation leather bible with a gold leaf edge on the pages. The English Standard Version is a literal translation that combines word for word accuracy. The type is a good size for my older eyes. It has an attached ribbon bookmark so I can mark my place easily. This is a great bible to have for reading/studying or to give as a gift.

Upon receiving, 3 of 4 corners had the pasted down liner peeling back. Some damage to page edges but that is more an Amazon shipping likelihood with an open ended box. Pages feel like a very rough texture, strange compared to most bibles I’ve used. Pages so thin, like, extremely thin. Nothing I’ve tried, from $29 bibles up to $300 bibles (obviously) have felt this thin. Started to read it one night, and numerous bad wrinkles pages with being extremely delicate. Not even sure how it happened. Great block. Wonderful to read. Size is a nice mid sized Bible, but a little too thick for me still. I don’t think I would charge $40 for this. Maybe $29. Returning it on the poor corners alone.