Thanks to reader Devin for linking to an exciting new product listing in the comments on the previous post! Thomas Nelson Catholic Bible Press will be releasing a large print thinline edition of the RSV-2CE in November. It will be available in three colors of imitation leather: black, brown, and crimson.
The text will be printed in 10-point “Catholic Comfort Print” font—the same font style that was used in the Large Print NABRE from Catholic Bible Press (although that edition uses 11-point font). The previous link points to my review of the Large Print NABRE, which includes multiple pictures of the text.
The dimensions of the new Bible are expected to be 9.25 X 6.25 inches.
Oddly, the sales listing also states that the “Anglicized text” will be used. I’m not aware of an anglicized version of the RSV-2CE, so it’s quite possible this was a copy-and-paste error from their NRSV-CE product listing.
I am also interested in seeing if there are cross-references too. The Christianbook listing says it does, but you never know until it is published.
I wonder if the 9.25 X 6.25 inches dimensions are also a copy and paste. Those dimensions are basically the size of St. Ignatius’s current Bible. I know the name thinline implies just thin, but most thinline versions are also smaller in the other dimensions as well. I will hold off on ordering to see what dimensions and other specifications are listed closer to the publication date. Perhaps it will be a candidate for genuine leather rebinding.
Devin,
It is also basically the same dimensions of Augustine’s ESV-CE. I have always considered the ESVCE and Ignatius’ RSV-2CE to be slightly smaller than a standard sized bible, and not a fully thinline bible. Perhaps I just don’t know what constitutes a “thinline” bible anymore. Although I have had thinline versions with the Protestant canon (NASB, CSB, ESV) which seem, at least to me, to be the intent of a true thinline bible.
I agree completely. In my mind, the exemplar of a thin line bible is the one from crossways which is 5.375″ x 8.375″ x 1″. (As an aside, I have a leather REB w/ Apocrypha which is 5.25×8.75×1.25 which is also nicely sized but certainly not a thin line).
You would think that given Ignatius Press RSV-2CE current dimensions, that Catholic Bible Press would try to offer something different. Oh well, presumably CBP knows their market and they can’t make everyone happy. I wish them good luck.
Maybe someday smaller RSV-2CE will come out or perhaps the Augustine Institue will release the CSV in a smaller size?
Again, don’t see myself getting it for a number of reasons, but I’m happy for the RSV-2CE getting another format. It’ll be interesting considering that, since Christianbook is discounting it out of the gate, it’s currently listed for cheaper than not only the Ignatius Press bonded leather edition but also their hardcover edition.
I agree “Anglicized text” is weird, but as I mentioned, perhaps it’s related to the Ordinariate usage? It’s that or a typo.
I’ve been hoping for a more compact RSV-2CE similar to the RSV-CE compact editions that are currently available. For now, I’ll continue to be reading it from Verbum on my phone when I’m away from home or traveling.
I think the Oxford compact rsv is a little too compact and the type too small. I’d hold ip the original Jerusalem Bible Compact Readers Edition as about the perfect size.
I was actually referring to the Bonded Leather Scepter RSV-CE Travel Bible. I also have the original Jerusalem Bible Compact Readers Edition and that would also be a great compact size to have in the RSV-2CE
This is the Bible I’ve always dreamed of having! I’ve often thought about buying the Ignatius Press edition and having it rebound in black leather, but, alas, I could never afford to do so.
RSV-2CE seems to be coming out of its shell into the world now. Can one dream for a Schuyler Quentel version one day?
Yeah, it went from Ignatius’s pet translation that anyone only ever seemed to use in published writing if they were publishing under Ignatius itself to it now being used by all the St. Paul Center and Ascension authors, and a few other publishers. And as for the general public, the Bible in a Year podcast and Great Adventure Bible really thrust it into the “mainstream” of English Catholic translations (and IIRC made it the top-selling Catholic translation in the US), similar to how Word on Fire might honestly be responsible for selling more NRSV-CEs to lay Catholics in the last couple years than were sold in the two decades prior. Besides Augustine Institute’s issues re: publishing new editions, I still say the BIY and GAB boost to the RSV-2CE did more to prevent the ESV-CE from taking root in the US than anything else. Had the GAB or the Word on Fire Bible used the ESV-CE, it’d be a different story. But clearly Ignatius Press is glad with how things have turned out, and this decision to let Thomas Nelson print the RSV-2CE is just another step forward, along with the release of the finished study Bible.
Is it possible that Ignatius no longer has exclusive rights to the RSV-2CE? The translation is still ultimately licensed by the National Council of Churches, as I understand it. I don’t know anything about the underlying agreements between Ignatius and the NCC, but I wonder if the current state of affairs is that any publisher can license the text from the NCC without entering an agreement with Ignatius. Or does Ignatius hold a copyright and licensing rights to the text?
Worth noting a few points:
1) NCCUSA holds the copyright to the -2CE, but only Ignatius can grant permissions.
Per: https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/nrsvue-quick-faq
“We are unable to grant permissions and licenses for the RSV-2CE. For permissions, contact Ignatius Press.”
2) This is different from the ESV-CE, which isn’t claimed by the NCC here at all, because Crossway secured both sets of rights by licensing the text completely.
3) Although the “Anglicized” NRSV appears, there IS no mention of an “Anglicized” -2CE.
4) The abbreviation officially used by the NCC here is “RSV-2CE,” not hyphenless “RSV2CE” or “-C2E.”
Good info. Thank you.
I’m not sure how the copyright of the RSV-2CE applies to Thomas Nelson, but it is worth mentioning that the original RSV-CE published by Ignatius and others was a Thomas Nelson book block. Also the original print runs of the RSV-2CE were published by Thomas Nelson complete with TN maps.
I am wondering if there was an agreement between the 2 companies to let TN publish copies of the new edition? When the 2CE was published, the TN 1st editions began to dry up at Ignatius and Scepter, so it seemed like this was a deal that was worked out. Given the success of the 2CE it is not surprising that TN would want to do a run of the Comfort Print.
I’m kind of curious as to how the various editions of the RSV-2CE came about. I have an Ignatius compact NT and Psalms, and Luke 1:34 reads, “How will this be, since I know not man?” Very literal, and very traditional! I’ve seen that rendering in Ignatius Bibles (bonded leather) as well. But, the GAB has, “How can this be, since I have no husband?”
Obviously, there are more than one versions of the RSV-2CE in circulation… And, what spots have I missed in various editions? I wonder which edition the CBP will use…
That is VERY interesting. This is the first time I remember hearing about discrepancies in translation between different printings of the RSV-2CE. Are the copyright dates any different between those two editions?
Based on my Amazon history I would guess the change to Luke 1:34 happened between 2014 and 2017, both in the NT/Psalms and full Bibles. No change was made to the copyright info. The change did not carry over to the GAB or the Didache, but the note taking editions do include it. I am assuming that the new Study Bible will include the change, and the CBP edition may or may not.
I had no clue Ignatius was making changes that late. I heard there was some minor fluctuation in the first few years after 2006, but making tweaks a decade plus after the fact without telling anyone? And it’s not just quiet correction of typos? That’s weird. I got a 2023 printing of the burgundy full Bible RSV-2CE, but it’s out for rebind so it’ll be a while before I can check that verse in it.
I have a pretty new printing, and it definitely reads, “How will this be, since I do not know man?” effectively becoming the only KJV descendent to simply translate the Greek as written…
Gotta say… I’ve spent some time with the ESV-CE over the last few months, and the deference to the Masoretic text in the OT is just grating to me after a while – especially when it defaults to the MT over and against the LXX, DSS, and other ancient versions. Sometimes, the renderings are just nonsensical. The ESV’s NT is by and large great, except for the occasional odd idiosyncratic translation (you already know them). I love the old RSV (1971), except for the odd use of archaic pronouns (I get it, it’s supposed to have a “liturgical” feel for prayers), and the NT verses that are relegated to the footnotes (the most egregious being several canonically-received passages in Luke’s account of the Passion and Resurrection that are restored in the ESV and NRSV). But, it’s seeming more and more to me that the RSV-2CE is everything I’m looking for in a Bible (until we get a Majority Text Bible with LXX Old Testament translated in the cadence of the RSV, which will likely not happen for a while haha).
The RSV-2CE updates and restores what I’d like to see updated and restored in the RSV. It is far less idiosyncratic than the ESV. It doesn’t defer to the Masoretic Text when the ancient versions agree against the MT. What it lacks in current scholarship it more than makes up for with deference to the received textual tradition. And, I really like the current printings of the Ignatius Bible.
FrJT,
One place where the NRSV and NABRE blow away the ESV and most modern translations is that they’re not just slaves of the Masoretic Text. For all their other faults, they seem to realize if the MT’s reading is incomprehensible, and everything from the Greek to the Syriac to the Aramaic Targumim to the DSS and other Hebrew copies all have a reading opposed to the MT, maybe, just maybe, the MT could be wrong. I know, I know, unbelievable.
Yeah, James,
I generally love the NRSV and NABRE Old Testaments, with the exception of the well-known howlers (looking at you, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, and Daniel 7:13). I look forward to the full NAB revision, and I really hope that it’ll be the scholarly but traditionally-worded Bible many of us have been waiting for…
This looks promising! I’ve been considering buying the Ignatius RSV-CE but haven’t been able to find much information about it online – I suppose it’s been around since before proper online reviews became popular. Perhaps when this TN version becomes available we could see a comparison between the two?
One thing about Thomas Nelson is that their page layouts etc. are great but their covers are often genuinely unpleasant. These faux leather covers with patterns in them are not to my taste at all, and I’ve got a TN KNJV which I thought was a simple grey hardback but turned out to have a sort of velvet fabric on it. They would do well to restrain themselves a bit and keep the covers simple.
When you mention the Ignatius RSV-CE, are you thinking of the old blue hardcover which they used to publish before the second Catholic edition was released? Or are you thinking of the second Catholic edition with the icons of Christ and the four evangelists on the cover?
Thanks for replying! I was thinking of the current, burgundy-coloured one (e.g. here https://lms.org.uk/product/ignatius-bible-rsv-2nd-edition-hardback)
I imagine it’s… fine, but I am now wondering if the new Thomas Nelson edition will be superior in terms of layout, font size etc.
I have an old copy of the burgundy hardcover Ignatius RSV-2CE. I think I got it in the first year after it was released. It was my primary bible at the end of my high school and early college years. I like it a lot. I had the blue hardcover Ignatius RSV-CE before that, and the burgundy edition has a MUCH nicer page layout. I like the cream-colored paper too, but I’ve seen mixed opinions from others about it. I vaguely remember seeing reports that the type of paper changed in one of the subsequent printings. If any readers have info on more recent copies of the burgundy Ignatius RSV-2CE, feel free to chime in!
The older editions had glossy pages that seemed almost waxy. The current printings have nicer cream-colored pages, but really tight bindings.
Source: perusing Catholic bookstores
Here is a link that looks at the NRSV-CE Thinline and the NRSV-CE Personal Sized Edition from Catholic Bible Press.
https://thecatholicmanreviews.wordpress.com/2021/12/13/day-3-nrsv-ce-leathersoft-thinline-edition/
The thin line NRSV-CE is 10.25 x 7.3 x 1.38 while the personal sized edition 9.5 x 6.25 x 1.5.
If these dimensions hold true for the upcoming RSV-CE2, then I will probably pass.
That length and width is surprisingly big for the thinline edition. I’m surprised by the dimensions you quoted for the personal size edition. I purchased one in early 2020, and my copy measures 8.9 X 5.75 X 1.25 inches. I really like the size. The NRSVue personal size edition (with Apocrypha) is basically the same size also.