About a year ago, I reviewed the personal size New Catholic Bible (NCB) in black dura-lux imitation leather. The biggest drawback for me in that edition is the glossy color illustrations and information pages, which are printed on thicker paper than the biblical text and interspersed throughout the Bible. These inserts make it impossible to lay the Bible flat on a desk and read, because they are stiffer than nearby pages and they “pop up” and refuse to stay flat.
Recently, blog commenter “Doubting Thomas No More” emailed me several photos of the hardcover NCB Student Edition which could be a viable alternative for anyone who finds the variations in paper thickness frustrating.
The Student Edition is printed on the same paper throughout (except for a family record section at the very back of the book), and it’s available in both hardcover and paperback, as well as both personal size and large print. Here is a link to a page on the Catholic Book Publishing Corporation (CBPC) website which lists all available Student Edition options. I will share photos of the large print hardcover edition in this post.
Physical Construction
The interior pages in the large print hardcover Student Edition measure 6.5 X 9.25 inches. The biblical text is printed in double-column format, with footnotes at the bottom of each column and cross references in the left column of each page.
The binding is sewn, and the page edges are painted yellow. The corners of the pages are square (as opposed to rounded).
Most informational pages and illustrations are printed in black-and-white, as shown below:
This is a red-letter edition, so the words of Christ are printed in red throughout the New Testament:
The only color illustrations appear to be a red-and-black picture of Christ on the title page for the Bible, and the family record section at the back with space for family tree and marriage details.
Conclusion
This appears to be a good quality economical hardcover (list price is $24.95 from CBPC). Since it’s available in both personal size and large print options, it could be a viable alternative to the dura-lux editions in either of those sizes, for anyone who finds the glossy color inserts in the dura-lux editions frustrating. Many thanks to Doubting Thomas No More for sharing the photos!
One small correction: the family records inserts are in between OT and NT.
CBPC’s products like the NCB feel like comfort food to me. They have their shortcomings (at times questionable art and design choices) but also plenty that makes you feel really good (great paper and print, great pastoral notes, a translation that reads well). I use a standalone NCB volume on Psalms pretty much every day and love it.
Oh gosh, it’s between the two testaments? That’s concerning. If you have the Bible open near the beginning of Matthew or the end of the OT (Zechariah or Malachi), do the family record pages pop up and refuse to lay flat?
I checked the end of Zechariah and the beginning of Matthew and while the family insert doesn’t lay completely flat, it is not popping up fully either. The paper used for regular text appears heavy enough to mitigate the issue (e.g., before you get to Mt 1, there is some introductory NT material that weighs the family insert down).
For me, this is the platonic ideal of an unattractive, unappealing, uninviting edition, from the cover to the typeface to the illustrations to the paper to the red ink. And yet–I recognize that I have so much to learn from the person who can happily stick their nose in this Bible and encounter Christ there. I am sure they have things to teach me about my sinful judging, my consumerism, and my reducing the faith to aesthetics.
But still: Catholic Bible Press has a good NABRE out that is pretty cheap for what it is, and there is still that very underrated Harper One hardcover. Those two are no frills and look way nicer than this at a similar price point. They would be my go-to NABREs.
Oh my goodness, the entire time I was writing my comment I was thinking this was an NABRE, not an NCB.
You people are way too nice to me.
I didn’t realize you were confusing the two but instead thought you were specifically referencing an NABRE because NCB seems to have been meant as an alternative to the NABRE. CBPC has published editions of both.
At one point I personally didn’t realize Catholic Bible Press and Catholic Book Publishing Corp were two distinct companies. I was hoping to get a stylish edition of the NCB from Catholic Bible Press… I would say that while CBP has more stylish designs, I have definitely liked the paper quality better from CBPC.
Yeah, I agree. Catholic Book Publishing Corp usually uses good paper with very well-controlled ghosting. That’s one thing they consistently get right.
Catholic World Press has the NCB Deluxe Gift edition in Bonded Leather. This is the best edition of the NCB available right now. No thick inserts whatsoever. I can’t stand red letter bibles but tolerate that with this NCB.
Doubting Thom: comfort food is such a funny way to describe CBPC’s materials. The Bible I have the most affection for and use the most is a CBPC nabre st joseph large type. I think of it as the book equivalent of a suburban parish built in the 80s. It feels like home and it’s well made but you wouldn’t call it beautiful.
I wish CBPC acted like a normal, contemporary Bible publisher and had more transparency and engagement with the market. I mean, does anyone know anyone who works there or owns the company? Who’s involved in their design choices and supplementary materials they put in their bibles? Why did they stop with the NAB and produce the NCB? Will they produce the forthcoming liturgical bible?
Dale in a Tincan (a YouTube channel by an elderly gentleman who posts quite a bit about Catholic books, including CBPC books) did a video recently about a slightly different edition of the NCB in which he spoke a little about the history of CBPC and noted that it was a family-owned company now in its fourth generation.
https://youtu.be/6Air4SnEQiY?si=EQeppkAyoa75Bbbi
Bren:
If you go to the Catholicbookpublishing.com and scroll down to the bottom of the front page and click on About Us you will read a brief history about the company. As for any sales information they are not obliged to share that as they are privately owned.
They also have information about the NCB.