Allan 43 Longprimer Thinline

Jul 22

A slimmed down version of the classic Oxford Longprimer from R.L. Allan.

If you missed my review of the 62 Longprimer last week, you probably also missed that I am taking the next few Thursdays to finish my Longprimer series, with reviews of everything in the Longprimer family from R.L. Allan. This week I’m taking a closer look at the 43 Longprimer, a thinline edition Allan’s flagship Bible.

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KJV 43 Longprimer Thinline – Overview

Back in 2017, Allan announced a new addition to the Longprimer family called the 43 Longprimer Thinline. Inspired by one of the vintage Longprimers from the 1950s, this new 43 Longprimer was designed to be a slimmed down version of the flagship 53 Longprimer.

The 43 Longprimer features a 5.875” x 8.75” trim size, and it is 1.375” thick thanks to 28 GSM paper (compared to 36 GSM paper on the 53 Longprimer). The 43 is bound in beautiful highland goatskin with a semi-yapp, and leather-lined with a single gilt line inside. The red-under-gold art gilded page edges are lovely. Despite being thinner, the 43 still has a 10pt type size as well as the dictionary of proper names, subject index, concordance, 32 pages of lined writing paper and 16 pages of Oxford Bible maps. The copy I am reviewing was printed in the Netherlands by Royal Jongbloed and bound by Charfleet Book Bindery in England.

FEATURES
• 10pt typeface
• 5.875” x 8.75” trim size
• 1.375” thick
• 28 GSM India paper
• Edge-lined Highland Goatskin cover with semi yapp
• Leather liner
• Smyth-sewn binding
• Art gilded page edges and interior gilt line
• Three ribbon markers
• Large, crisp black letter type
• 100,000 centre column chain references with dates above
• 16 pages of full-colour Oxford Bible maps
• Concordance, subject index and dictionary of proper names
• 32 pages of lined writing paper
• Presentation Page & Family Records

43 vs 53

For those of you keeping score at home, here are the key differences between the 43 and the 53:

a) the 43 has 28 GSM paper where the 53 has 36 GSM paper
b) the 43 has a semi yapp unlike the full yapp of the 53
c) there is a single gold gilt line inside the 43 as opposed to the double gilt line in the 63
e) by my measurements, the width of the 43 is just a hair smaller than the 53, which leads to slightly smaller margins

Right For You?

The 43 Longprimer offers readers a slimmer and more portable version of the classic Longprimer typesetting. A lot of people I know say that the 43 is their favorite Longprimer of them all, and I can see why. It’s a bit less showy, and the 28 GSM paper is still opaque enough to create a comfortable reading experiences free from significant distractions. It’s a winner in my book.