Allan ESV PR

Apr 26

A closer look at this unique little ESV Personal Reference Edition from R.L. Allan.

One of my all-time favorite Bible text blocks is the ESV Personal Reference Bible from Crossway. It’s a small, single-column Bible that I first discovered when my friend Caleb showed me his lambskin edition several years while we were studying ay Fuller Theological Seminary.

I’ve owned a few of these Bibles over the years, including a very lovely rebind from Sojourner Rebinds, as well as a one of the R.L. Allan editions (which they simply call the “ESV PR”) bound by Chant. So when I heard that Allan was releasing a new run of this Bible in 2021, my initial thought was, “I’ll sit this one out.”

But when I started seeing the posts online from folks who had ordered them and were talking about how great they were, I caved in and placed my order. It took twenty-one days for this Bible to make the journey across the Atlantic, and as you may have seen in my unboxing video, I was quite excited when it finally arrived.

Watch the video below to see a full walkthrough of this Bible, and keep scrolling for a written review and more photos.

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R.L. Allan ESV Personal Reference Edition – Overview

With this run of the ESV PR, Allan has taken Crossway text blocks printed in China on 32 GSM paper and had them bound by Charfleet Book Bindery in beautiful Highland Goatskin (the most recent editions of the ESV PR from Allan were bound by Ludlow in New Zealand goatskin). Unlike most Allan editions, this Bible does not have tooled ribs on the spine, which creates a very clean look.

The text block measures 5” x 7.25” and is right at 1.5” thick. The typesetting features the 2011 edition of the ESV in a single-column format with and 8pt font and cross-references in the inner margin (gutter) of each page. It also includes a short concordance and 32 pages of Allan’s lined note paper.

FEATURES
• 8pt typeface
• 5” x 7.25” trim size
• 1.5” thick
• Edge-lined goatskin
• Smyth-sewn binding
• Antiquarian-style hand-speckled page edges
• Interior gilt line
• Three double-sided satin ribbon markers (3/8”)
• 32 GSM paper
• Single-column format
• Cross-references in the inner margin (gutter)
• Concordance
• Lined note paper

Study on the Go

Other than the fact that the ESV PR does not include maps (and I know some people don’t like Bible maps anyway), the ESV PR is a fully-loaded reference Bible that is small and portable. In fact, I’ve found that Allan’s highland goatskin really holds up well on the go. I would put this Bible right up there with the Schuyler Personal Size Quentel, the Cambridge Clarion, and the Cambridge Pitt Minion as one of the best available personal size ESV Bibles on the market.

Right For You?

I say all the time that my desire is to help people find a Bible that they will love and enjoy using. I write reviews and create videos so that you can get a closer look at these Bibles and see if they check the boxes for what you’re looking for. This is a great example of a Bible that checks a lot of boxes for me personally.

I love the size.
I love the aesthetic look and feel of the Allan binding.
I love the single-column layout with the margins in the gutter.

What do you think?
Is this Bible right for you?

Bottom Line:
The ESV PR from R.L. Allan is a lovely take on one of Crossway’s more unique text blocks, and the touches on this particular run from 2021 came together quite nicely.