Tyndale just published a new NLT-CE Gift Edition Bible, and I received my pre-ordered copy from Amazon. My first impression is that it is essentially a smaller carbon copy of the original hardcover NLT-CE with a nicer imitation leather-wrapped cover. In fact, the pages are completely identical. I checked various parts of the Bible, and when I turned to the same book and chapter in each edition of the NLT-CE, the page layout was exactly the same. Disappointingly, the new Gift Edition also has a glued (not sewn) binding, just like the old hardcover edition.
Physical Construction
The Gift Edition is noticeably smaller than the original Tyndale NLT-CE (quite similar in size to my hardcover Cambridge REB with Apocrypha). Here is a photo of it on top of a stack of other Bibles for comparison:
The exterior dimensions are approximately 5 5/8 X 8 5/8 X 1 3/8 inches. It has plain white paper with no gilding or colored edges. The binding is glued, and there are no ribbon markers (unlike the hardcover edition, which has a single ribbon).
The paper is brighter white in the gift edition compared to the old hardcover, and ghosting is minimal and unobtrusive, even though the text is not line-matched. I don’t think ghosting will cause any difficulty with reading this Bible.
Page Layout, Font, and Typesetting
I was surprised (and somewhat disappointed) to find that the page layout is a scaled-down carbon copy of the layout in the old hardcover edition. There is nothing new about the style. Both Bibles are printed in double-column format with brief introductions to each biblical book. The font size is listed as 8 pt. According to my homemade font size comparison sheet, it is equivalent to approximately 8.25-8.5 pt. Times New Roman:
Conclusion
To my mind, the main benefit of this edition (compared to the hardcover) is the smaller, more portable size. I like the form-factor. It’s easily portable. And I consider the lack of gilding to be a positive. For a portable edition, gilding makes me think twice about putting a Bible in a backpack or taking it out of the house for fear that the gilding will get scraped and dinged. I also like the feel of the imitation leather. It definitely looks and feels nicer than the original hardcover. But if you already own the original hardcover, it’s hard to justify getting the Gift Edition. The page layout is identical, and the font is smaller in the Gift Edition. I’m disappointed that the binding is glued, and I was hoping for a different page design or layout which would offer more variety for people to choose from.