Bibliotheca: Complete Multi-volume Reader's Bible Clothbound Set, 5 Volumes (Including the Apocrypha) Hardcover – January 1, 2016

This is a beautiful Bible set, and the pages are silky smooth which has to do with the fact that there is no paper in these Bibles.I had written about the negatives of using polyethylene in the creation of stone paper in my original review, but Bibliotheca reached out to me and clarified that point which I'm adding to my review because I think it will benefit everyone who reads it :-) -"We just want to make one important clarification: There is no polyethylene in Bibliotheca’s paper.Unlike the polyethylene(PE)-containing “stone paper” commonly found in the notebooks you refer to above, our paper utilizes ASA (alkenyl succinic anhydride) as a binding agent, which is commonly used in regular wood-pulp papers. As a result, the texture and appearance of the paper are indistinguishable from wood-pulp paper. It even tears and absorbs moisture in the same way. If you put these two types of paper side by side (PE-containing “stone paper” vs. the PE-free mineral-based paper used in Bibliotheca) and handle them, the difference will be quite clear. The main benefit of utilizing stone (calcium carbonate from limestone) as the primary filler, rather than wood pulp, is that it is much more age-resistant and will not become brittle, darken or discolor over time; polyethylene is not required for these benefits."As of the time of writing this review, Bibliotheca also has the wooden bookcase that accompanies this set for sale on their website. It's quite expensive, but it makes for a wonderful companion to shelve this collection in. I purchased it and polished it with a beeswax-based polish, and it came out quite well. I love how this set looks in it!Now, I'm no Bible expert, so I can't speak as to the quality of this translation over others, but the formatting of this Bible is quite pleasant to read and it makes it feel like reading a novel instead, which I rather enjoy.

This is the most well crafted Bible I’ve ever owned (I’ve owned Cambridge and lots of fancy ones). The format, structure and layout makes for a beautifully enriching and well produced bible reading (prior to the formation of the bible that we see today — the Jews had creatively separated 3 volumes that contained their writings — so this is kind of biblical! Ha!) .... What Bibliotheca did was remove all the distracting features of the Bible that we have all grown accustomed to (numbers, chapters, chapter headings, references, etc) reading — in other words, your not reading a math book! The bible is literature first and foremost — when people talk about the bible it’s easy to forget that the bible was written by highly trained intelligent scribes who were brilliant storytellers spinning and weaving stories layered with God and human interactions that challenged social structures, kingdoms and empires, the mighty and the weak, while containing bizarre and foreign ideas. These five volumes are engaging, they allow the reader to immerse themselves into the stories without jumping around verse by verse. One last thought that I want to highlight — the actual translation is brilliant, the translation committee did a fabulous job in bringing out the Greek and Hebrew in this translation rendering a beautiful readable experience, while not ignoring the sometimes strange but often bizarre structures in the stories (sentences in the scriptures that modern translations attempt to make sense out of). I enjoy that the word “Gehenna” is used rather than “hell,” most translations just use hell out of sheer laziness (not trying to be harsh). This translation really brings out the royal ideology in the letters of Paul — it really pops! — not to mention YHWH instead of LORD (there’s much more that could be said). What a master piece. The price is worth it — you are supporting a great cause and a beautiful library that can be passed on to your kids or family members.

OK, so I know I used the word "beautiful" and "beautifully" three times in my headline, but it's simply true: This Bible set is quite simply beautiful. Reading it is a joy. I am an avid reader, I read thousands of pages per year. I have read the Bible cover to cover more than once. With the Bibliotheca Bible set, I have been able to immerse myself in the text in a way I have never experienced before. The Bibliotheca Bible set removes all the barriers between the reader and the text so the reader can be truly immersed. It makes for an amazing reading experience. I am exceptionally pleased with my purchase. I have been a customer with Amazon for almost two decades, and I have only written a handful of customer reviews in all that time. The Bibliotheca Bible set is of such a high quality that I felt compelled to write this brief review. It is simply amazing--and beautiful. I love it!

Superb in quality and readability. Helps to encourage me to read because the satisfaction of opening a new volume is great.Not a great format for cross-referencing and deep study, obviously, because of the lack of any chapter or verse notation. You just have to read straight through.

I received this Bible - very nice, high quality books in a great case. I bought the 5 volume set that includes the Apocrypha as the price was almost the same. The single column format is great for reading; as described there are no introductory pages/explanation, no chapter or verse numbers - there are page numbers at the bottom. High quality paper and hardback covers.

Meticulously crafted for optimal reading experience. If you have an open mind to what the creator had in mind with this project, and are willing to appreciate it for what it is, you will not regret this purchase.

Beautifully bound set of books!