17th Oct 2024 by UName-223575

***Update***I was contacted by an employee of Cambridge Press. I didnt get permission to use their name or quote them so Ill use general references. They told me they would be looking into how the two Bibles came to be packed improperly and incurred damage during shipping due to the improper packaging. I promptly received an e-mail back from my contact at Cambridge Press. They concluded during their investigation that it was indeed a training issue and have resolved the problem. I commend them on their efforts to maintain high standards.***Update*** Intriguing, a Bible that opens from top to bottom you say? Review of the Cambridge KJV Transetto Text Edition Bible I saw this Bible on the publisher’s web site and was intrigued by it. It was a very novel idea at least and a practical one at best. Unlike traditionally bound compact or pocket editions this Bible does not open and read like the same. With a traditionally bound book you would open the front cover from the right to the left and read from the top left to the right and proceed down the page until you move on to the next page to the right and then you would turn the page and continue. In the Transetto you lift the front cover up and you are presented with the two pages becoming one book width page laid out as a double column text format to be read as one page, from to left to right all the way to the bottom of the other open page. Then you would flip up the next page and continue in the same way. The way you read it is not the only unconventional thing about this Bible. The cover is made of a reinforced card paper. It is not connected to the text block all the way around like a regular book. It is only glued to the text block on one side while the rest floats freely around the Bible when closed. When opened and laid flat you can see the individual journals and how they are sewn together in the spine. When opened towards the middle of the Bible you can see how the sewn binding allows the Bibles spine to bend all the way around and back into itself. This is critical for the success of this kind of binding. The only cons of this particular book that I noticed were the corners of the Bible were bent due to the lack of care involved in the shipping process, the flimsy quality of the cover material itself, turning pages up instead of right to left, and the lack of chapter and verse numbers next to the book names on the corners of the pages. The cover could be made a bit more sturdy or out of a more flexible fake leather material. They just need to do something a little different to protect the text block. It is tough to do on an inexpensive, unique binding like the Transetto’s. It is not a big con, but one nonetheless. The unique binding makes turning pages counter intuitive. We are all used to doing it the common way so it takes some getting used to. That being said, it really isn’t a big con either. How many people have gotten used to hitting a button to turn a page with e-readers? It’s not a big deal. It wouldn’t have taken much for Cambridge to put the chapter and verse numbers on the pages along with the book names. It would have made turning to a specific spot much faster. I can understand why they didn’t do that. This is a small text Bible meant for reading daily, not as a reference Bible. We can’t expect too much from something this small and portable. The main reason for buying this, besides novelty is portability. With all of that in mind, there are more pros than cons or at least the pros are more significant than the cons in my opinion. If you are looking for as compact a Bible as you can find, that is still legible, then this is it. The layout enables the Bible to use a 7 point font and fill most of the space on the India paper making it easier on the eyes than conventional compact Bibles. Most conventional compacts use between a 6 point font and a 6.x size font. You have to buy what they call a large print compact and they are usually thicker and/or bigger in width and height. So if small, stowable, and legible are your primary concerns for a take anywhere compact then this is a very good option.

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