This Bible is the Bible that ended Bible reviews for me. Not because it was so good. Rather, because it was frankly so bad. And I couldn't look anyone in the eye to tell them they messed up.

Way, way back, during the horrid COVID-19 years, I received this Bible from Crossway for purposes of review. The way their program worked was pretty simple: You could receive a Bible (if I remember correctly, you could receive one Heirloom Bible for review per year) and you had to review the Bible before you received the next one. This was a pretty simple agreement and guideline overall, and one I figured I had no issue following.

Until I ran into this ESV Heirloom Single Column Personal Size Bible.

I have this personal goal to keep things as positive as possible on this blog. I want to celebrate with people. I want to congratulate people. And at worst, I want to admonish them when things go wrong.

So that's where I'm going with this review: admonishment.

Crossway learned their lesson, to be sure — this particular Heirloom Personal Size Bible has been discontinued, and its replacement has reportedly fixed everything bad about this model. Though there isn't one single aspect that makes this Personal Size Bible an "Heirloom" Bible found in its title, you can be sure the replacement Alpha Edition is one you want to get your hands on.

Design and Materials

I want to be clear from the start about two things. The first: the Heirloom Personal Size is a sub-par attempt to make a premium Bible more affordable through the use of less expensive materials. Choice of materials is where the Heirloom Personal Size falls flat.

But the Heirloom Personal Size does do one thing particularly well: finish. This is something I noted in my review of the 80th Anniversary Omega edition:

I was surprised to find such a difference in art gilding quality when comparing the ESV Omega to other Heirloom Bibles. In fact, I was left wondering if the quality of the art gilding in the ESV Omega is one of the reasons it doesn’t carry the “Heirloom” moniker.

Running my thumb along the edge of the book block really highlights the inconsistencies in the gilding. Near the beginning of my Omega, there are two significantly darker gildings, easily seen with the naked eye. There are also numerous spots throughout my Omega where the gilding has actually bled onto the front-facing part of the page. Again, no deal-breaker here, but I was surprised to find these inconsistencies.

So where the 80th Anniversary Omega has superior paper, superior leather, superior ribbons, and superior feel overall, the fit and finish of the Omega does not measure up to the finish of the Heirloom Personal Size.

Credit where credit is due for the Heirloom Personal Size.

Goatskin Leather

Onto the admonishment. The first miss is the Heirloom Personal Size's goatskin leather. I initially wrote "goatskin leather", as it feels nothing like the other goatskin leathers in the Heirloom Study Bible, Heirloom Single Column Legacy, or even the non-Heirloom 80th Anniversary Omega.

This particular version of goatskin leather feels synthetic — the leather feels bonded to the interior calfskin leather, though the interior calfskin leather doesn’t feel like calfskin either. I’m reviewing this Bible after it has sat in a box for over five years, but I distinctly remember the smell of this Bible when it came out of the box — this Heirloom Personal Size Bible smelled like plasticky, artificial paint thinner when I first opened the box, something completely foreign to a truly leather product.

The front goatskin leather does have a nice grain to it. It reminds me more of the Heirloom Single Column Legacy I have, where the grain protrudes out more and almost feels bubbly. This is starkly different than the 80th Anniversary Omega in my collection, which is a more subdued and soft grain.

The front cover is perimeter-stitched and inside is a nice gilt lining around the exterior of the front and back inner covers. Not to be outdone though, the interior gilt lining isn’t lined up nicely to the outer perimeter of the covers. Again, this just screams poorer quality than what is to be expected of Crossway’s Heirloom line.

To me, a Bible’s leather is its hallmark first impression. It’s more than how it looks — the leather has to be soft to the touch and durable for a lifetime of use. I have clearly grown spoiled with Crossway’s other offerings. As such, this Heirloom Personal Size “goatskin leather” feels like anything but.

Size

I can cheer about the Heirloom Personal Size’s size, even if I know now this size isn’t for me. The Heirloom Personal Size measures right around 8 x 5.5-inches, which is slightly larger than the prior personal size offerings from Schuyler (the new PSQ from Schuyler is a mid-size Bible, definitively larger than past PSQs and this Heirloom Personal Size).

The Heirloom Personal Size measures just over 1.5-inches in thickness, which is also slightly thicker than the personal size offerings from Schuyler. The difference between the two is marginal at best and I feel strongly that these Bibles would be used in the same situations.

This size is very, very easy to throw into a satchel or messenger bag and very easy to use when sitting in a pew.

It is quite difficult for Bibles of this size to lay flat right from Genesis 1 through to the end of Revelation. The Heirloom Personal Size’s edge-lined binding and general thickness snap this thing shut if you let it go at Genesis 1. I don’t think you’d find yourself using this Bible too often for deeper study, wherein you set it open and write notes or look at a different source material in the meantime. Overall, this isn’t a deal-breaker, but could be a consideration for some.

Spine

The spine comes with four ribs and four gilded stamps denoting the translation and publisher. I’ve been critical in the past about Crossway’s triple-stamped moniker on their spines, and this Bible is no different.

The synthetic-feeling goatskin leather is probably most noticeable when you press down slightly on the spine’s four ribs. There is clearly a bubble between the top goatskin leather and whatever is underneath, making every exterior inch of this Bible feel cheap and of poorer quality.

I’m not one to prefer stamped gilding logos on the spine over debossed stamps (which you can see now in the Wellington leather options from Crossway), but I do worry ever so slightly about long-term visibility. I’ve used my Heirloom Single Column Legacy for over six years now and the spine stamps are starting to fade a bit. This is OK overall — I am using the Bible, and it’s meant to be used — but gild-stamps like these likely won’t be here 60 years from now when you want to hand your Bible down.

Binding and Hinge

My admonishment continues — the Heirloom Personal Size’s binding leaves something to be desired as well. As noted above, I’ve had this Bible for over five years, and it has sat in a box for those five years. During those five years, I have used my Heirloom Study Bible almost every day and I’ve used my Heirloom Single Column Legacy for all the other days where I didn’t touch my Study Bible. Yet somehow, it’s the Heirloom Personal Size Bible which shows glue giving way in its binding and is sure to fall apart before any other Bible in my collection.

I recognize there needs to be some flex or even an air pocket between the paper block and the leather spine, so as to allow for opening the Bible and more. But this is almost egregious — this is a Bible that has felt like it’s falling apart since the moment I unboxed it.

The fabric Smyth-sewn binding you can see isn’t even or uniform against the spine either.

Some positives though: the Heirloom Personal Size hinge does a pretty great job of opening wide in the middle of the paper block, which is fundamental to reading text in the gutter of the block. My wife’s Personal Size Quentel from Schuyler opens more fully, but it’s been used a fair bit over the last five years as well. I imagine breaking in this Heirloom Personal Size would yield an even more flexible hinge.

At this point in the review, I recognize I’ve been quite negative. This is exactly why it’s taken me over five years to write this review. I almost feel sick to my stomach thus far. I’ll continue forward in my honesty though.

Paper

I’ve saved my best for last. If there is one single element of this Bible that stands out negatively relative to other premium Bibles in this price range, it’s the Heirloom Personal Size’s paper. Somehow, Crossway got this paper so wrong after getting all their other Heirloom options so right in the years before.

First, the paper tone — the Heirloom Personal Size uses a bright white paper; much, much brighter than the Heirloom Single Column Legacy (which has my favourite cream-toned paper of any Crossway Bible). Now, in general, I’m OK with bright white paper — the Heirloom Study Bible has a whiter tone like this and I don’t have any issues (though the Personal Size is whiter yet than the Study Bible). But bright white paper in a “reader’s” style like the Heirloom Personal Size is a far-from-ideal paper colour choice.

Worse, the bright white paper seems to collaborate with the thin, barely-translucent paper to produce a barely-readable text. I could be exaggerating slightly, but not much — the show-through in the Heirloom Personal Size is the worst of any Bible I have at this price point, and it borders on distracting in many circumstances. For the two or three times I’ve pulled out this Bible to read, I’m quickly reminded how hard I have to focus to distinguish between typed text and show-through text from the opposite page.

I’m not sure I can nail down the exact GSM of the paper used. The Heirloom Study Bible has a 31 GSM and the Heirloom Single Column Legacy uses a 28 GSM paper. This must be thinner than the Single Column Legacy. How much thinner, I am unsure. But I would expect an end result in or around the 25 GSM thickness. This, combined with the bright white colour and the actual quality of paper, are the core reasons for such a distracting reading experience.

Lastly, I find the individual paper signatures bound to the spine to be noticeably grouped together. When the Heirloom Personal Size is open in, say, Isaiah, and you look at the salmon-coloured gilding, you’ll note how the signatures don’t flow fluidly into the next signature. Even when you’re flipping through the Heirloom Personal Size, the signatures somewhat stick together. Overall, I feel this looks shoddy and unrefined, which is akin to the rest of the experience.

Ribbons

I appreciate watching some of Tim Wildsmith's Bible reviews, as he has been critical of Crossway's ribbons forever. Only the Heirloom Study Bible has big, bold beresford ribbons (even if they're a bit short) and they are far and away better than any of Crossway's other ribbon offerings.

Unfortunately, Crossway didn't pick the Heirloom Single Column Personal Size to make the ribbon change, either. Worse, the ribbons actually feel poorer than the ribbons found on the Netherlands-made Heirloom Legacy or Omega. These really don't feel much better than the simple ribbons you can get at Michael's here in Canada for arts and crafts time with your kids.

Of course, for a small, personal size option like the Heirloom Personal Size, only two ribbons are provided. This is pretty standard for personal size options.

Printing

Perhaps the facility in which the Heirloom Personal Size reaches its greatest heights is in its printing. For a personal size, single column Bible, the Heirloom Personal Size has a great selection of fonts, font sizes, and layout.

Font, Font Sizes, and Layout

Single column layouts are hit and miss for me. In nearly every circumstance, a single column layout is more beautiful to the eye — it reminds you of an actual single column layout book than the standard dual column layout we're all used to in a Bible. To the eye, the single column layout in the Heirloom Personal Size is aesthetically pleasing.

But there's also the reality that a single column layout — at this font size — runs the risk of having too many words per written line. Poetry in Isaiah and Psalms has an ideal text shape and number of words per line, whereas bigger paragraphs and blocks of text verge on the end of having too many words per line. I don’t think it’s too many, but it’s really close. (And note, I have this same issue with the Heirloom Single Column Legacy and the Heirloom Study Bible; both have one too many words per line, causing my eyes to have to focus extra hard when jumping from one line to the next.)

Also of note: Because the single column layout insists on this number of words per line, the text often leeches into the gutter of the paper block, causing you to have to tilt your head to see the text inside the gutter when reading. Perhaps over time, the Heirloom Personal Size will open wider, alleviating this small issue. But it’s admittedly not an issue on the Personal Size Quentel (the original PSQ, the now “compact” size which seems to be discontinued).

Line-Matching

If it weren’t for line matching, I don’t believe you’d be able to coherently read Scripture inside the Heirloom Personal Size — the paper has so much show-through that even dotted “i”s on the reverse page distract from the text on the current page. By and large, the Heirloom Personal Size does line-matching very well. There are instances even in the new Heirloom Thinline where the line-matching is a bit off-kilter, causing some distractions from the reverse page. The Heirloom Personal Size in 2020 does a great job in this department and I simply can’t complain about this execution.

Resources

The Heirloom Personal Size is a compact/personal size Bible, so there are only a few resources to be had. Once you get through Revelation 22, there are a simple “Weights and Measures” reference sheet and eight glossy, coloured Bible maps in the back of the book block. No concordance, glossary or index are included in this Bible.

The Heirloom Personal Size does, however, include minor footnotes on the bottom of each page, providing a little background on various obscure items in the text. Most pages have one simple footnote explaining the term, spanning no more than three lines underneath each column of text.

I feel it needless to say that this Bible is not going to be anyone’s pick for in-depth study. This Heirloom Personal Size Bible’s singular job is to be your everyday carry option — there when you need it in a pinch and there in just about any location you might find yourself.

Wrap-Up

This has been, by far, the most critical I’ve ever been in a review of any product, ever. I feel dirty. Seriously. I’ve never been a negative or critical person and I have no intention of becoming one.

So I’ll wrap this up in the most positive way possible: Crossway has done an absolutely wonderful job recovering from the Heirloom Single Column Personal Size Bible. This Bible appears to have acted as an experiment — a trial run, if you will. I have no idea the underlying goals of moving manufacturing to China and choosing a dramatically lower quality of overall materials than past Heirloom options. Was it to lower cost? Was it to speed up production?

Who knows. And thank goodness it’s all over.

The proof in the pudding is the Heirloom Alpha — a dual-column personal size Bible which returns production to the Netherlands and returns to its rightful form as a true Heirloom-level Bible. The Alpha is very high on my wish-list and I can’t wait to get my hands on one to directly compare to this original, first-generation trial personal size trial run.

Finally, I have to apologize to Crossway.

One, for being critical — perhaps I could have been critical in a less tongue-in-cheek way (I could ask AI to rewrite the whole review in a more gracious way, after all).

And two, for being so late in this review — I received this Bible all the way back in 2020/2021 and simply froze. I was so disappointed in the quality that I didn’t feel right singing any sort of praise just to see what Crossway had coming next.

Thankfully, Crossway has retired this particular Bible. The latest collaborative Bibles with Schuyler and the upcoming Heritage Bibles to be launched in Fall 2025 appear to have all the right things going for them (they’re even improving their ribbons!). I can’t wait to see what Crossway has in store for us next.