Premium Bible Terminology – Over 40 Terms Explained!

I get a lot of questions about what specific terms mean... so in this video I'm explaining more than 40 premium bible terms!

Are Premium Bibles Worth The Price?

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DISCLOSURE: Many of the Bibles in my videos have been provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review, and some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I make a small commission if you purchase something after clicking the link.

[josiahcooper]

I thought I had a premium bible until I saw this video. I now realize I have been driving a Civic thinking it was a Bentley

[michaelmurphy]

"Yapp" was named for the 19th Century British bookbinder William Yapp who introduced the technique for pocket-sized Bibles, this form of binding is still quite common for contemporary Bibles.

[ianmichaelsmith]

A few nitpicks: Namely about head & tail bands, spine hubs, yapp, smythe-sewing, glue & 'perfect binding.'

Head and tail bands used to serve a structural purpose in book binding. the hinges at the top and bottom of the book were structurally some of the weakest in the overall product, head bands were literally sewn into the binding of the book adding additional strength. This is still done in some fine book-binding, and can be quite elegant, but is overall time consuming. The effect, and added protection from dust and mold could be achieved much more cheaply by glueing in a false head-band and tail-band. This is now the standard.

The same is true with spine hubs. Before the modern Smythe-sewing machine, book bindings were hand sewn. They would actually be sewn around a jig that had several pieces of twin, leather, or rope as the hubs for the binding. These would later be covered over with the outer leather cover material, but underneath they were largely structural. To keep the aesthetic they have gone to gluing in pieces of rubber or leather.

The yapp or circuit on a leather bible was an innovation (much like page gilting) meant to protect the page edges. In the 20th Century most people take cars to church, but in the past people would walk with bible in hand to church, and have to face the elements; this was a nice added touch that kept bibles meant to be carried safe from the elements. Bibles meant for study or home use tended to be hard backed, and often features metal clasps to help the book keep shape. Soft leather bibles with yapps are a later development (largely of the 19th century).

Smythe-sewing is actually a brand name; it is the name of a book binding machine that sews together signatures with great rapidity, and at a high quality. This innovation revolutionized book publishing, and today, almost any mass produced book bound with signatures is smythe-sewn.

This is in opposition to its main competitor, 'perfect binding, ' that is, individual leaves of paper glued together without any signatures or sewing. This is actually the standard in paper back publishing and in much of the modern print world. 'Perfect binding, ' is a bit of a misnomer, because 'glued, ' or 'perfect bindings, ' are less structurally durable than a sewn binding by their very nature. Individual pages can come loose, destroying the book's integrity.

However, both smythe-sewn books and perfect bound books use copious amounts of glue in their binding. In fact, in the case of a smythe-sewn book, after a generous amount of glue is applied to the signatures, it isn't uncommon for them to be sanded down to create a more consistent spine, removing some of the stitching (but since the glue is there, it remains structurally sound) before book tape and other spine materials are applied.

I would encourage you to go watch some book restoration videos on youtube (or custom book binding), to get a better idea of how books were traditionally bound, and how many aesthetic choices in premium bibles today are more or less vestigial tails left over from these previous methods being eclipsed by modern technology and mass production.

[JeffMankin]

Since I started watching you, my leather editions have increased significantly.
Thanks Tim!

[WilliamWatsonBirch]

So much fun! True Bible Nerds just love this stuff!

[deserthighlander]

Thanks to yourself and the other two Tims, I'm well versed on most of these terms. Nonetheless, that was extremely fun! I'd love to see you do a video on your favorite bible commentaries, singular and/or a series. ✝️

[shawnglass]

He did mention that Humble Lamb is out of Kentucky but they have their Bibles printed and bound in China. That is important to some of us.

[FloreshBibles]

This is an excellent and extremely informative video for anyone wanting to learn more about Premium Bibles. Thank you for putting this video together…it was quite the list!

And thank you for the shout out! Appreciate you, Tim!

[asliceofpai]

When I get some more money I’m definitely hoping to get a nice premium bible! Thanks for the video, I’m learning so much 🙏🙏

[ladyrnt]

I love that you did this! It answered so many questions! I'm saving it to refer back to! Thank you, Tim!

[donhagner]

Thank you for this. Also helpful would be an explanation of the types of Bible cover materials, i.e. Bonded leather, full grain leather, genuine leather, Berkshire leather, French Morocco leather, Tru-tone, imitation leather, etc.

[ScottJ]

This video will make a great resource. In my circles I'm known as a car enthusiast and since 2023 a premium Bible enthusiast. This will be useful send people when they ask me questions about terms I use when geeking out about Bibles.

[RDBremner]

I'm EXTREMELY glad you mentioned the end sheets that shouldn't be pulled down towards the spine. I just got a Bible that was made that way, and I would definitely have thought that the pages were stuck, and would have pulled them apart. That would have made me cry.

You also mentioned GSM. I have a Bible with wide margins, and I believe they said they used a higher GSM paper (thicker), so that the ink wouldn't be as visible from the other side of the page.

[Hikecdt]

Really informative. I jotted every term down and also notes on each. How interesting and educational. Really enjoyed this presentation. Thank you!

[markwardonwords]

Excellent. I myself needed help on some of these terms, despite years in the biz!

[sillyrabbi]

The Oxford Hollow is triple-width, not double. 👍

[snaify]

This was very cool to watch! These are book binding terms as well!

[missinglink_eth]

What. A Tim video released at such a different time of day. Blessing!❤

[kapirk]

Loads of great information for everyone trying to find just the right Bible.

[derrickpurdy]

This is a great primer for those who are concerned with premium Bible terminology. Many of these can be used for non premium Bibles so everyone will benefit from this video.