R.L. Allan KJV Longprimer 53C

Sep 24

This limited-run Longprimer with speckled page edges had me at hello.

I’ve recently been doing some research on the history of Bible translations, and of course the King James Bible is a prominent part of that history. I don’t use the KJV regularly, but the more I learn about, the more I want to spend time with it. There are myriad editions of the KJV available today, but when I started exploring my options, there were three that caught my eye: the Schuyler Canterbury, the Cambridge Concord, and the Allan Longprimer.

I’ll review those first two soon… but today is all about the Longprimer.

I knew I was in trouble when I saw the announcement from Allan on their Facebook page that they were releasing a limited edition of the Longprimer 53C with hand-speckled page edges. This is the most expensive Bible I have ever purchased, but as soon as it arrived I knew I had made a good decision.

Allan 53C Longprimer – Overview

R.L. Allan & Son Publishers began printing Bibles in 1863. Originally located in Glasgow, this small, family-owned business is now headquartered in London. They are regarded for their high quality bindings that are handcrafted in small batches using premium materials and traditional construction techniques. Allan is perhaps best known for their printing of Authorized King James Version Bibles based on vintage typesettings from Oxford University Press, and a Bible known as the Longprimer is their flagship edition.

The KJV Longprimer was developed by Oxford University Press in the 1950s, and is now printed exclusively by Allan. The “53” is the standard Longprimer edition that features a 6” x 8.75” trim size on 36 GSM paper and is bound in highland goatskin (Allan also has the thinner “43” which is printed on 28 GSM paper, and the larger “63,” which has larger margins and is printed on thicker paper). The “C” signifies that this edition of the Longprimer comes with the Oxford Cyclopedic Concordance, which includes a multitude of charts and illustrations in addition to the regular entries (more below). If that weren't enough, this Bible is part of a limited run of Longprimers (100 each in black and navy blue) that have hand-speckled page edges.

What this all ads up to is an elegant and unique Bible that literally made my jaw drop when I first opened the box.

FEATURES
• Edge-lined highland goatskin cover with full yapp
• Smyth-sewn binding
• Red, blue and gold speckled page edges
• Three ribbon markers
• 36 GSM Bible paper
• Large, crisp black letter type
• 100,000 centre column chain references with dates above
• 16 pages of full colour Oxford Bible maps
• Cyclopedic Concordance with names, places, charts, and vintage illustrations
• 32 pages of lined writing paper
• 6” x 8.75” trim size
• 1.75” thick
• 10pt type size

Exterior Beauty

I’m a big fan of Allan’s traditional binding techniques, and I’ve now had the opportunity to handle quite a few Bibles from the various binderies they have partnered with over the years. The jaw-dropping exterior beauty of this Charfleet-bound Longprimer is quite possibly the most impressive Allan Bible I have ever seen. The combination of navy blue highland goatskin with the red ribbons and hand-speckled page edges makes for a stunning visual, and features like the double gilt line and full yapp give this Bible an extra level of distinction.

Inner Clarity

A Bible with a beautiful exterior such as this runs the risk of being a disappointment when you flip one the pages, but thankfully the Longprimer 53C continues to impress on the inside. I think my expectation was that the vintage typesetting would not be as nice as some of the more modern layouts in the Bibles I use regularly, but that was a poor assumption on my part. The pages of this Bible are crisp and clear with a strikingly bold 10pt font on opaque 36 GSM paper.

Here’s what Allan’s website has to say about the extremely readable interior of the Longprimer:

“This edition of the Longprimer is scanned from a vintage copy of the classic Longprimer, printed in the period 1952-1958 under Charles Batey, then Printer to the University of Oxford, returning to a page image that is much closer to the original intentions of the typesetters. This new-old page image retains the large, clear type of the Longprimer we all know and love, but has a crisper letter form and less of the broken type and 'spread' that mark out much-used letterpress typesettings subsequently transferred to film, and only more recently to digital scans.”

In addition to the impressive set of cross-references, this Longprimer 53C includes 16 pages of Oxford Bible maps, 32 pages of lined writing paper, and the 370-page Cyclopedic Concordance with names, places, charts, and vintage illustrations. Not all Longprimers come with this expanded concordance, but it’s a really fun feature to have, and it makes this limited edition even more special.

Flagship for a Reason

Allan’s Longprimer 53 is a classic Bible that honors the history and legacy of the King James Bible. It’s their flagship Bible for a reason, and this 53C with speckled page edges and the Cyclopedic Concordance makes for a very special edition.

Bottom line:
I truly unique and impressive KJV edition from Allan that is impeccable both inside and out.