Cambridge NKJV Wide Margin
“The Eagle” has landed at Bible Review Blog. Let’s take a closer look.
Last year I posted a Bible for sale on Facebook (shout out to all of you who are members of The Bible Exchange, Everything Bibles, and Super Fans… and heck, I’ll even give a shout out to those of you who’ve been “booted” from the Super Fans pages, too!). Just a few minutes after my post went live, someone sent me a message and offered to trade me a Cambridge NKJV Wide Margin in Goatskin for my Bible. I’m not a power user of the NKJV, but I had been wanting to check out one of their wide margins, so I made the deal.
Y’all, this Bible is great.
You can find a lot of reviews out there about the Cambridge Wide Margin (mostly the ESV edition), and pretty much every one of them raves about it. My review will be no exception. This Bible is simple and unassuming, but it is also extremely well constructed and beautifully appointed.
Cambridge NKJV Wide Margin – Overview
The Cambridge Wide Margin is available in several translations, and it comes in a few different binding options (goatskin, calf split, hardcover.) The edition I’m using for this review is the NKJV Wide Margin in black goatskin leather. All of the aesthetic touches of this edition are beautiful, but as I mentioned above, they are simple and unassuming. One of my favorite things about premium Bibles from Cambridge is how subtle they are. These Bibles are not showy. You might see one from across a room and not notice how nice it is, but get close to one and you’ll be impressed by the quality.
The text block of the NKJV Wide Margin is 7.25” wide and 9.125” tall, and it measures about 1.5” thick, including the cover. Inside you’ll find an 8pt typeface that is line-matched on 36 GSM paper. As the title suggests, each page has wide margins surrounding the text, but the outer and lower margins are more generous that those on the inner and top portions of each page (see photos below).
At the back of this Bible you’ll find four useful tools: (1) a Concordance; (2) an Index to Notes where you can create your own system for locating the notes that you’ve added throughout the Bible; (3) Thirty-two pages of lined note paper; and (4) a full set of Cambridge Maps on lovely Bible paper.
FEATURES
• 8pt type size
• 7.25” x 9.125” trim size
• 1.5” thick
• 36 GSM paper
• Line matching
• Edge-lined goatskin cover
• Smyth-sewn binding
• Two ribbon markers
• Tooled spine hubs
• 1.375 Outer Margins, 1.25” Lower Margins
• Identical page layout as the Pitt Minion, just larger
• Cross-references
• Concordance
• Index to Notes
• 32pp of Lined Note Paper
• 15 Cambridge Maps
Build Your Own Study Bible
One of the coolest features of each translation of the Cambridge Wide Margin is that it has the same layout and pagination as the corresponding Pitt Minion. The Wide Margin is obviously a bigger Bible, and this allows it to have a larger font size (8pt vs. 6.75pt in the Pitt Minion) as well as those wide margins, but if you get a Pitt Minion in the same translation as your Wide Margin, you can go back and forth between the two with ease. I love the idea that I can study at home with the Wide Margin and take the Pitt Minion with me on the go.
Speaking of studying at home, the whole idea of having a Bible with wide margins is that you’re going to write in it, and the Cambridge Wide Margin fits that task well (though I would recommend you try out your favorite pen in an inconspicuous place before you dive right in). Other than occasionally jotting a note here or there, I have never been much of a “write in your Bible” person, but I love the idea of filling a Bible with all of my own thoughts and notes. It’s like creating your own personal study Bible!
How cool would that be leave a Bible like this – filled with all of your notes – to your kids or grandkids one day?!
If there’s a downside to the Cambridge Wide Margin, it’s the fact that the font size is still pretty small. It works well for me, but my eyes are still pretty young, and I recognize that some folks really need a larger font size to be comfortable. That said, I suppose one of the benefits of the smaller type size is that this Bible is not too bulky or heavy.
Worth the Wait
I’m glad I made that trade on Facebook, because the Cambridge NKJV Wide Margin is a great Bible. In a couple of days I’ll be posting a new video that compares this Bible with the NASB Wide Margin Quentel from Schuyler Bibles, so be sure to check back and see how they look next to one another.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a new wide margin Bible, this subtle but impressive edition from Cambridge needs to be on your short list.
BUYING THIS BIBLE
• The Cambridge Wide Margin is available in several translations and formats, starting at around $50 for hardcover editions to just over $200 for goatskin editions. Visit Cambridge Bibles to see all of the options they have available.
• You can often find good deals on Cambridge Wide Margin Bibles at ChristianBook.com:
NKJV Wide Margin / ESV Wide Margin / NIV Wide Margin / NASB Wide Margin / KJV Wide Margin
