History: Cambridge Bibles are the oldest Bible publisher in the world, and they have a long tradition of printing quality Bibles going back to 1591 when they first published an edition of the Geneva Bible.
The Cambridge Topaz edition is one of Cambridge’s latest editions, Cambridge first published the ESV Topaz in late 2019, and then the NKJV in 2021, and the most recent edition published is in the much-loved King James Version.
First impressions: When I first received my KJV Topaz in the mail I unsealed the cellophane and opened the box, my first thought was that I had received the Calfskin edition by mistake, so I picked it up and opened the Bible and it even had the feel of the Calfskin edition. It’s not as floppy and it lies flatter in the hand than other goatskin editions that I’ve owned. I find that the binding is a little thicker and stiffer than the black ESV Topaz.
The binding: It has the appearance of goatskin with a nice medium grain with HOLY BIBLE stamped on the front cover. The cover has a very light sheen, it is edged line constructed, and is perimeter stitched and leather lined. The spine is just slightly rounded with five raised spine hubs. The spine stamping is visible, clean, and evenly stamped.
Upside/downside: For me personally, I think the binding lacks some finesse, maybe if the cover was a little thinner and had a little more yapp it would wrap around the textblock and feel a bit more luxurious? On the other hand, you’ll probably get more longevity out of a thicker cover, and it shouldn’t take it very long to break in and soften.
The real gem of this edition is the textblock, it’s a red-letter edition and is printed on 28gsm paper. The page size is 9 ¼” x 6 ¼” or 23.5 cm x 15.8 cm. The paper is thin but opaque and the text is line matched. The overall printing in this edition is consistent with the red print being a very dark brick red, which is a vast improvement over previous editions. This edition is sewn, the art-gilt on the page edges is salmon in color (a little more orange than red). The head and tail bands are red and yellow and there are three red ribbon markers.
Upside/downside: Where the binding lacks finesse the textblock makes up for it, the only real critique, the ribbons are cut too short, maybe Cambridge could add a couple of inches, here I’m thinking more is always better, and the owner can always trim them to their desired preference. Also, the Topaz is not available in a black letter-only edition. Keep in mind, that Red-Letter editions are an American invention and have only been around for 120 years, so a rather late addition to the physical Word of God. The Bible is not more or less authoritative with or without the words of Christ in red.
Paper: is 28gsm Indopaque and it is thin but opaque, it has a silky-smooth feel, and the color is a nice light cream white with minimal sheen. It’s a premium paper and only available through Jongebloed of the Netherlands.
Upside/downside: The paper is very fine and although opaque it can crease easily, so, some may find the paper a little too delicate.
The contents: includes sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. The Front matter consists of a Presentation page, Family Record, Marriages, Children, Grandchildren and Deaths. There’s a table of contents, listing of the Books of the Bible, the Epistle Dedicatory, and the Translator to the Readers. In the Backmatter is a Concordance, a color-coded Map Index, and Maps. The information in the Concordance appears to be the same material as found in the Cambridge Turquoise edition.
Dimensions: The outer binding dimensions are 10” x 6 ¾” x 1 3/8” or 27cm x 19cm x 3.4cm
Layout: The Topaz is a verse-by-verse double-column layout with the references placed in the outer margins and the textual notes are located at the bottom of the page. The columns of text are approximately 2 1/8” wide, and 7 7/8” tall. Each column is approximately 6 to 7 words across and 53 lines down. The text is line matched, the font is More Pro Font, and the approximate size is 10 pt. with an 11pt. leading. The references are divided into two columns located within the outer margins. The top column of references covers the inner column of text, and the lower column of references covers the outer margin of text. There is good spacing in the inner margins, at least ½”, and the outer margin is over 1”. You basically have three different font sizes, the text, the marginal references, and the textual notes, with the marginal references being the smallest.
Downside: If you’re looking for a true large print reference edition, you might look elsewhere, especially regarding the reference material. Just for disclosure, I wear progressive corrective lenses and without my glasses I struggle to read the main text, but with my glasses I have no problem. With my glasses, the references are clear but not as large as I’d prefer and I have no problem reading the textual notes, which are larger than the references. Sadly, at present there’s not much available from Bible publishers in a premium KJV Large Print “Thinline reference”, there are many available in other translations, but for the KJV Translation, none currently comes to mind.
Recommend: the reference material needs to be increased in size, closer in size to the textual notes at the bottom of the page. The references would also be more useable if they were located closer to the relevant verses. I think the issue with the marginal references are, that they are covering two columns of text, so wherever you move the references, some of those references will always be away from the related verse. The only fix I can see would be to add an inside column of references near the gutter, that way each column of text would have its own column of references. In the KJV edition, there’s enough room to enlarge and spread out the references, also adding an extra column to the inner margin would bring the references closer to each related verse.
Form/Function: The Cambridge Topaz is a verse-by-verse reference edition, but I think that Cambridge is trying to accomplish too many things with the KJV Topaz. For instance, there are no subject headings in this edition, apparently a homage to Cambridge’s beloved Turquoise edition. I’m thinking Cambridge may have desired a cleaner reading edition, so they didn’t include any subject headings, which I think would have broken up the text more and would’ve helped the reader navigate around the text more easily. And, up until the KJV Topaz, all of the Topaz editions have had subject headings, the ESV as well as the NKJV. In this case, again, less is not more. Also, the small superscript reference letters throughout the text are printed smaller to not incumber readability, although this lessens the ability for some of us to use the references to their full potential. There just seems to be a contrast in function, Readers vs. Reference vs. Wide Margin vs. Preacher’s Bible, and in trying to be multiple things I feel that the KJV Topaz comes up a little short and misses the primary function of being a reference edition.
Final thoughts: If you’re looking for a real clean verse-by-verse layout then the KJV Topaz may be a good edition for you, and if you’re not eye-challenged you shouldn’t have any problems with the print, being the print is so well done. The line-matched text printed on this 28gsm paper makes for a stunning presentation. Although, if you require something with a larger font, especially larger references you may be better served looking elsewhere. A few editions that come to mind are the Schuyler Canterbury and the Thomas Nelson KJV Giant Print Reference edition, although, I wouldn’t define either of these as Thinline editions, but both are true large print and reference editions. And, if your mind is set on a Cambridge, the Cambridge Turquoise is still available in a few different bindings, the references are not large, but the main text is darker and bolder. As for the binding on the Topaz, the Cambridge Topaz also comes in a calf-split edition, available in black and brown, the main difference is, that it has a vinyl paste-down liner, but it’s less money, so you’ll end up with the same textblock minus the art-gilt page edges.
I purchased my *Cambridge Topaz edition from *Evangelical Bible.com, they stock all of the editions mentioned throughout the review and normally at a better price than you’ll find elsewhere.
*I have no affiliation with Cambridge or Evangelical Bible, my opinions are my own. Also, please keep in mind these Bibles are hand bound using natural grain hides, so the bindings will vary somewhat per edition.
Please click on the following link for purchase:
https://evangelicalbible.com/product-category/cambridge-bibles/kjv-2/topaz-reference/
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