Leather Books

Even though it shows in the picture as a red leather bond the one I received was black leather which is great I like the black better. I have had a Sword Bible for some time and I had to purchase another when I gave my niece my Bible. She was looking for a Bible that was easy to read and translated words to make it easier to understand without changing the meaning of passages of the Bible or incorrectly making statements as many new Bibles do. She fell in love with the Sword Bible and has never put it down. She had gone to every Bible book store looking for just the right Bible before I gave her this one and told me she was going to just give up. Guess the Lord had other ideas cause she reads it daily now.

THE SWORD HAVE DEEP STUDY OF THE BIBLE LARGE PRINT AND VERY GOOD PRICE GOD BLESS HIS WORD.............AMEN

Psalms 6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 7 You will keep them, O LORD, you will preserve them from this generation forever.
I accidentally stumbled upon a KJV-Only website, http://www.av1611.com/. The thrust of the articles on the site are; a number of the modern translations of the Bible, i.e.; NKJV, NIV, NLT and others have corrupted text in them that are tantamount to heretical blasphemy.
In reading the verses that are cited from each text, next to the same verses in the KJV, it seem some of their points are kind of nitpicky. While other points they make seem extremely important. It seems evident to me the deity of Jesus and other Christian dogma, are seriously compromised by the NKJV, NIV, NLT and other modern translations. And gender inclusive language seriously compromises the meaning of the passages where it is used in these modern translations.
So I searched around and found the Sword Bible-OE-Large Print KJV Easy Reading. So far this edition seems to hold true to the original KJV. Thankfully they have updated some of the archaic language that makes the AV1611 edition of the KJV a chore to read. However, IMHO they could go a lot further in updating the KJV.
The purists believe any attempt to update the KJV is tantamount to sacrilege. I believe that insisting that a 21st century man be expected to read the Bible in 17th century British, English may be, all well and good, for historians and scholars, but your average man on the street will not be so willing to spend the hours digging through dictionaries and concordances, in an effort to decipher outdated words, sentence structures, idioms and syntax, that are needed to gain a clear understanding of the AV1611 KJV.
It is time for some intelligent Godly men to translate the KJV into modern American English. And the KJV-Only people should lend a hand to insure no corruption of the text creeps in. Then they can return to their cloistered sanctum sanctorum and extol their own superiority in holding true to the AV1611. In the meantime the Sword Bible-OE-Large Print KJV Easy Reading. Is 10 times easier to read than the AV1611. Call me lazy, uneducated and fleshly if you like. But, worshipping the LORD seems a lot easier when I'm not in a state of confusion, produced by the effort of translating archaic text in real time.
Reading from the AV 1611 is the Protestant version of preaching the Mass in Latin. Half of the men in the pews are falling asleep and the other half are thinking about the game on T.V. But they keep going to church because they feel guilty otherwise.
If Jesus came back today and walked among us like he did in the New Testament times, 95% of the church leaders in America would call him a dirty hippy with a messianic complex. They would probably banish him to a psychiatric hospital, or claim he was a dangerous cult leader and have him imprisoned, because, we don't crucify people on crosses in modern America.
May GOD richly bless you,
Steve Dean

We bought this Bible for two of our kids ages 7 and 5. They are learning to read and the large print and the way they break the hard, long names into syllables is such a BIG help to these young readers. My husband and I both want one now because of the wide margins for notes and how the book is easy to open and handle and highlight on your lap. My 8 year old son wants the KJVer instead of his KJV. This Bible has EXCELLENT study notes and many, many more helps and in depth information for a serious student of the Bible. It is exciting to read God's love letter every morning from this well laid out book!

If you are like me, you probably have many Bibles, many Study Bibles, and would like one Bible that has basically everything you need. The Sword Bible has everything you need in a single Bible. It has a concordance, articles about prophecy, articles about the creation, and many study helps on various topics, information about Jesus, the names of God, maps, and too many other things to list.
Here is what I like best: though it is listed as a 'Large Print' Bible, it has larger print than all of the Giant Print Bibles I own, except for my Super Giant Print Bible. It says 12.7 point type, but it looks bigger, and is easier to read than the 14 point type in two of my Giant Print Bibles. The second thing that I'm very pleased with is that it is a true easy to read KJV Bible. Unlike the NKJV Bible, it does not retranslate passages and change the meaning of passages. The Sword Easy Reading Bible is a true KJV, Only updating some clearly listed words, and only giving the defintion in textual notes of outdated or poorly understood words. This is the only true KJV update I've seen. All other so-called updates change words like "hell" to "hades", and insert other words that do not belong in the text. For those who believe that only the KJV is accurate and dependable among all the Bible versions--I think you will be pleased and satisfied with the Sword Easy Reading KJV.
There is not much on the negative side to this Bible. I think they could have made the bonded leather cover a bit thicker, and perhaps packaged it in a box rather than a slipcover. I believe they need to make this wonderful Bible available in a mid-range size for those who don't need large/giant print. This is a big Bible, not something you are going to tote around much. But it is a one-volume Bible that is easy to read, easy on the eyes, and also a study Bible.
Note that this edition comes in two colors. Black is isbn: 0966890736 The other color is purple, so beware which color you are ordering.

The writing style / language is like that spoken in the HBO series Deadwood. A bit hard to get used to but then an interesting read and a very clear glimpse of what it was like in Montana during the 1800's.

After gold was discovered in the Bitter Root Mountains of present-day Montana in 1860, lawlessness followed the rush of miners into the region. Bannock and Virginia City became important centers within the mining districts, and by 1862 were typical western "shoot-em-up" towns teaming with unsavory characters, racked by violence, and basically "removed from the restraints of civilized society" and its laws. It's in that context that the Montana Vigilantes were created, a group that, according to the author, brought order out of chaos by offering "a shield of protection" to the citizens while wielding "a sword of retribution" against lawless marauders. An interesting development occurred in Bannock, however, in that the elected sheriff (Henry Plummer) apparently at the same time was the leader of the most notorious road gang (thieves and murderers) in the territory. Thomas Dimsdale, an Englishman who had gone to Viginia City in 1863 for his health and who shortly after operated the first newspaper published in Montana, wrote a series of articles for his paper about Plummer, his operations and agents, and the work of the vigilantes to bring to justice (often by hanging) these criminals, and these articles were later collected to make this book.

In 1987, a new biography of Plummer by R.E. Mather and F.E. Boswell threw Dimsdale's book into the realm of controversy by declaring a belief that Plummer was innocent of the crimes Dimsdale accused him of and that Dimsdale praised the work of the vigilantes too highly and uncritically. There is no doubt that Plummer had a criminal past before coming to Bannock (he was hanged there by the vigilantes in 1864), having served time in San Quentin for murder. Who is closer to presenting the truer picture is hard to say, but Dimsdale's work is a thrilling and dramatic account, a fascinating narrative that is as lively as a Max Brand western story.

This was first given to me 1976. What I would do with this one, I don't care about vigilantes, I have no interest in Montana, and time is too precious to take it away from the 19th century, my favorite. It suddenly dawned upon me, this is the 19th century, and if someone is going to understand the mindset of the century, you will have to examine the mindset of the whole population. Reluctantly I picked the book up and began reading. Some hours later I set the book down sorry that the author had run out of words.

Thomas J. Dimsdale was an Englishman who settled in 1863 and Virginia City, Montana and in 1864 took over as editor of the Montana Post. The newspapers served as the first publisher in serial all of The Vigilantes of Montana and perhaps some of the writing in this book, some of the romantic element, some of the color of the book is explainable artifact it was first written for the newspaper. In this century that has arisen some question about the true facts surrounding the "villain" of the story. Henry Plummer arrived in the gold camp in Nevada City in 1852 and very soon participated in the wholesome disreputable houses when he saw fit to murder two men. By 1862 former was notorious as a boss of the gang of criminals. In 1863 moved to Montana and news was elected sheriff. This is the story of the vigilantes who tracked down, tried, and executed plumber and his gang of desperados. Some modern researchers who tried to prove Plummer innocent of the crimes for which he was executed.

The author describes this event in colorful detail and very readable narrative as you see in this excerpt:
"seeing that the circumstances were such as embedded of neither vacillation nor delay, the citizenry here, summoning his friends, when up to the party and gave the military command, "company! Forward march!" This was at once obeyed a rope taken from a noted functionary's bed and had been mislaid [more was immediately sent for and soon they were hundreds of feet of good hemp] ....
"The order to `Bring up Plummer' was then passed and repeated; but no one stirred. The leader went over to this `perfect gentleman', as his friends called him, and was met by a request to `Give a man time to pray.' Well knowing that Plummer relied on a rescue on other than Divine aid, he said briefly and decidedly, ' Certainly, but let him say his prayers up here.'"

And, "Soon after, the party formed and returned to the town leaving the corpses stiffening in the icy blast. The bodies were eventually cut down by the friends of the road agents and varied. The `Reign of Terror' in Bismarck was over." The book continues for another hundred and eighteen pages of the same where only the names and places are changed to condemn to posterity the guilty. At the end, the author provides a section of short biographies of the leading players.

This is an easy reading book, well worth what you might pay for it, and whether all of the factual information is an is factual is somewhat immaterial here because it does give a picture of these decades in the West India and Hollywood would be afraid to imagine.

This fascinating document is an account of the notorious "road agents" operating in Montana in the early 1860s during and after the Alder Gulch gold strike. These men took over the towns of Alder Creek, Virginia City and Bannock and ran them as criminal enterprises. Eventually groups of ordinary citizens formed secret vigilante organizations to combat the road agents. Taking the law into their own hands they pursued, shot or hanged as many of the road agents as possible. On Virginia City's Boot Hill there are presently gravemarkers with the names of a number of the men mentioned in the book who were captured and hanged by the vigilantes. Dimsdale, the author, was born in England and took over editorship of the Virginia City paper. Some of the events he witnessed, but more he relates from the testimony of those who participated in them. The accounts are a bit confusing -- they read as newspaper reports and lack a historian's distance and clarity. But they make up for all faults in the immediacy of their telling. This is a very valuable document of life in the old west, and gives an extraordinary sense of what life was like in a raw mining town, too new to have any legitimate law enforcement. Mark Twain cites Dimsdale and quotes him copiously in "Roughing It," his account of his adventures in Carson City, Nevada, and other places in the West.

Dimsdale writes of Montana history in a clarity not often appreciated by some history authors. "The Vigilantes of Montana" brings, page after page, the gold-rush era of Montana Territory to the memory and eyes of the reader. This fascinating text tells the story as my ancestors told of living in Montana during this period. It is an excellent choice for any reader interested in a true account of the romantic and hostile West.

This was a great purchase as Bibles go. I gave it as a gift to my father, who is a retired Air Force veteran. Here are some things I observed:

Great Things:
- Has a Bible for each branch
- Great resources in the back, like prayers of famous leaders like Patton
- Attractive, small, and easy to read
- The translation is great: it is both easy to read and accurate

Not-So-Great Things:
- Not a lot of study guides and comments in the margins (it is compact)
- Not a lot of space for writing notes

Overall, I recommend it, particularly as a gift for someone else. I would also recommend giving it to someone who is not a Christian if they are associated with the military.

This is the nicest looking bible I have ever purchased. It includes Air Force specific passages in the back.

I pray all involved in war read this book, especially the lines in red, to realize war brings only deep sin, death, immorality, lust, injustice, oppression, and eternal and infinite distance from our great God of Love and of Peace whom we find through the blessed word of Jesus Christ, here printed in red. Love one another as I have loved you. Love thy enemy.

I pray each soldier reads this book and weeps, and beats his arms into plowshares, to build peace and feed the children instead of slaughtering them and leaving them orphan, maimed. Saint James the greater writes that religion pure and simple is caring for widows and orphans in their distress, not creating widows and orphans and their distress.

I pray every soldier may read this Good Book and take it to heart and change their ways and study war no more.

Take and read, for this is His Body.

It is not a license to kill.
Thou shalt not kill.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not lie.

Love thy enemy.
Turn the other cheek.
To whomsoever asks your coat give your shirt as well.
Do for others what you want them to do for you.
Love one another.
Repent and follow the divine word which leads unto life, not killing and imperialist warfare for oil.

Please read as well:
Pacem in Terris Peace on Earth Encyclical Letter of Pope John XXIII, On the Development of Peoples, Populorum Progresio., Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response a Pastoral Letter on War and Peace (Publication / Office of Publishing and Promotion Services, U), Jesus the Rebel: Bearer of God's Peace and Justice, Disarming the Heart: Toward a Vow of Nonviolence, Gandhi and King: The Power of Nonviolent Resistance, etc. But best just read this book especially the lines in red and learn why we must study war no more, but to love our enemy, who is our neighbor, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

This is a great present. I bought it for my brother in the Air Force and who is currently serving in the Middle East. It is compact enough to fit in the cargo pocket of his uniform and it's leather, so it durable.

This is a great item to present to a person leaving for Basic Training. It is a very high quality Bible, yet small so it can be easily stowed. The slide-tab closure keeps the Bible shut, which is nice when being carried to on-base services or while traveling. The special sections are very encouraging to a service person. I have purchased three of these Bibles (for my son, my daughter, and my daughter-in-law who are in the USAF).

There are some books that are just so informative that no library should be without them. There are some books that are written so well that it is a positive joy to read the text. There are some people who have such a way of looking at the world that you feel comfort hearing them speak. There are people who have seen so much that their opinion is something you seek.

All of these traits are combined in this volume that only Foote's Civil War trilogy can compare with. The small stories that are routinely missed (such as the origin of "the real McCoy) and the relevence of these ordinary people making extrodinary things happen are coupled with the tales of the extraordinary people who had their ordinary vices. (Franklin's advice to take an older mistress because they are both more discreet and more grateful) Both named and unnamed he tells their tale as it fits in the piece of this puzzle of America

Unlike much of history which seems to have an agenda, Cooke's masterpiece is classical, telling a story of grandur without fawning and of warts without lambasting. It is a grand overview rather than a list of presidents, wars and laws. He captures the essense of what is importnat. It is as if he wished to give a consice guide to his compatriots in England of what facinates him about this land that he eventually settled as did many in his story.

It captures what America and Americans are very well and would be an excellent guide to any person who wants to understand us. With so many Americans ignorant of their own history it would be an even better guide to todays college or high school students to make them understand this land of their birth and how it came to be what it is.

This book is 30 years old as I write this (July 4th 2003) at the time he wrote this Cooke was in his 27th year of his Letter from America Broadcast for the BBC. When you finish this book you will find yourself wanting more. Have no fear Mr Cooke is now in his 57th year of his broadcasts telling the story of America 15 minutes at a time continues. Lets hope he dictates a sequel filling in these 30 years.

Besides being a beautifully written, poetic portrait of America's history, the author's British background provides for a totally different perspective. This viewpoint provides a different insight on people and events that an American writer might not have grasped and that I found very interesting and refreshing.

No stiff upper lip Brit here, not at all. As a transplanted British journalist Alistair Cooke who studied in America's Ivy League universities and then returned to America as a BBC correspondent seems to have been deeply affected and impressed by what he saw here. He stayed here and became a citizen. If the little man and his small cracker-barrel anecdotes represented the collective spirit of the country Alistair Cooke's fascination of the common man's philosophy captured that spirit simply and eloquently in his writings. This simple eloquent approach addressed and exposed the heart and feeling of the people that drove the great country for higher aspirations of the human experience. This is what he wrote about. His observations and examination of the Civil War capture the fervent feelings that Americans held be they morally right or wrong. Yet at the end of this struggle the common purpose of the people did not deter them to find their destiny in this land. The spirit never died and that is what Cooke seems to capture, explore and explain in such eloquent words.

His prose depicting the American people throughout our nation's historical record are eloquent and shear poetry to read. His endearing objectivity and love of this land through his insightful words are stirring and heartwarming. You do not come across this type of writing with genuine devotion, respect and love for what comprised the greatness of the American spirit.

Alistair Cooke, who died very recently, was a Briton who first came to America during the dark days of the Great Depression as a very young BBC correspondent. The venerated justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was one of the very first people whom he met - and he writes eloquently of that encounter in the Civil War chapter of this book. Finding our spirit and our optimism contagious, Cooke spent much, if not most of his life here for the next seven decades, getting the know the best and the brightest, the celebrity and the common man on the street, learned about our history with an appreciation that very few - even many Americans - have for this country.

The result is "Alistair Cooke's America" first published as a loving tribute to this country at its Bicentennial in 1976, with a revised forward in 2002, though with no mention of the tumultous events of September 11, 2001. Cooke writes movingly of our history and of the spirit of the American people, the fight for Liberty during the American Revolution, the move westward, that "firebell in the night" (to quote Thomas Jefferson) as the country tore itself apart over the question of Slavery. He writes of the Civil War, interestingly considering Antietam to be a much more significant battle than Gettysburg. His views on Abraham Lincoln are also surprising, in his view that President Lincoln was venerated in great part due to his death, and being the leader of the winning side.

Cooke also spends much more writing space on Woodrow Wilson, whom he clearly admires for his domestic and foreign policies, but either ignores or just wasn't aware of Wilson's Racist policies. By contrast, Theodore Roosevelt, whose Presidency bridged the gap between the Civil War years and America becoming a major power, gets barely two pages.

Cooke's chapter on the "Arsenal of Democracy" is a revelatory look at how America's policy of "Lend Lease" and our subsequent entry into World War II did save the world from Hitlerism, especially when France had fallen and Britain was on the ropes.

Despite some of his views, or perhaps because of them - This well-written and profusely illustrated book deserves the five-star review because Alistair Cooke wrote a history that belongs on every thoughtful American's bookshelf alongside Stephen Ambrose's "To America". The things we take for granted about how great this country is were never missed by this great British writer.

No recommendation could be higher than that which I read in "The Economist" as follows:

Photographs to swell the heart of any armchair traveller. Like a Patek Philippe, this is a book you don't own, but merely look after for the next generation - once, of course, you've repaid the loan you took out to buy it.

This is from the "Books of the year 2003" recommended by "The Economist" Dec 6 - 12 th, 2003 issue. I don't choose to wear a watch, but I do appreciate the refined elegance and quality of a Patek. Likewise, ANTARCTICA is an heirloom.

ANTARCTICA by Pat & Rosemarie Keough

Reviewed by Charles Swithinbank,
Scott Polar Research Institute
for: The Antarctican Society Newsletter
Vol. 01-02, No. 2, January 2002

This is the first Antarctic book that may require a Sherpa to bring it to your home, a lectern to display it, and a special book-case to put it in. But make no mistake, it is something that you will treasure for life.

While is not the first large-format volume of Antarctic photographs by professionals who have spent years traveling in the Antarctic, what distinguishes this is the unmatched quality in every aspect of its production. The book is published in a limited edition of 950 leather-bound volumes, each one signed by the authors and by Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Honorary President of BirdLife International. An advance copy was unveiled on January 14th, 2002 during a reception hosted by HRH Prince Charles at St James's Palace, London. The authors have agreed to give the net proceeds from Antarctica to BirdLife International for their Save the Albatross campaign. An incidental consequence of current longline fishing practices is that 17 of the world's 24 species of albatross are now at risk of extinction. Attracted to the baited hooks, seabirds are hooked or entangled and then drowned as the trailing lines sink behind the fishing vessels.

Antarctica weighs 12.6 kg (27.8 lb) in its linen-bound presentation case, and 8.6 kg (19 lb) by itself. The book itself measures 44 x 34 x 6 cm (17 x 13 x 2.5 inches), contains 330 color images taken by the authors, a 15-page narrative, a map and a glossary of ice and snow terms.

The Keoughs have assembled a stunning and eclectic portfolio of such artistry that your reviewer was left speechless. It embraces wildlife, landscapes, abstract patterns in nature and touches of man from the heroic era through the heyday of whaling to the present. I was transported from the windswept interior plateau to the mountainous coast, from off-lying islands to the icy seas and the stormy ocean. The volume is a stress-free way to experience the wonders of Antarctica with all its savagery and beauty. For connoisseurs of photographic art and for collectors of fine books, Antarctica will greatly please.

My own regret is that I was not able to rummage through the Keoughs trash bin on the morning after they made their selections for the book. I could have sold my redundant camera. But remembering Herbert Ponting and Frank Hurley before them, I expect they will have fuelled their log fire in the backwoods of British Columbia with most of the rejects.

The authors traveled to the Ross Sea, the Weddell Sea, Ellsworth Land, the Antarctic Peninsula and South Georgia. The book includes a map of the continent with insets of the Ross Sea and the Antarctic Peninsula showing place names mentioned in the text. South Georgia, being peripheral to the main theme of the book, has no map of its own.

Each image has a brief but adequate caption. Most of the scenes would look fantastic on an IMAX screen. Having myself been to most of the places that the Keoughs visited - some in their company - many of their photographs brought a pang of nostalgia. But as I lack the eye of an artist, I had looked but seldom appreciated the stark beauty of what I was seeing. If tempted to tear out the pages to frame, Antarcticans will discover that with a properly bound book like this, it is almost impossible.

As I watched the Keoughs in the Antarctic, they almost always had their cameras on a tripod, surely a major factor in creating such pin-sharp images. The authors themselves inspected each page of every book (some 400,000 pages in all) before sending them to the bindery. To make the high quality binding, some 2000 goat skins from India were specially tanned in Scotland. To counter the squeamish, we are told that semi-wild goats are destroying plant diversity, and that fewer goats equate to a healthier natural environment.

The images are printed on custom-made acid-free and chlorine-free heavy paper, hand-sewn with Irish linen thread using centuries-old techniques. Treated with care and kept in dry and pollution-free conditions, the book should last for 1000 years. It is the first photographic art book in the world to have been printed with 10-micron stochastic spots, a leading edge printing technology with three times the resolution of traditional high- end lithography. Pat and Rosemarie's company, Nahanni Productions inc., have previously published six books featuring their images exclusively. Titles include The Nahanni Portfolio and The Niagara Escarpment. Antarctica is the first of their Explorer series. In buying the book you will help to ensure that your children may live to see the albatross still wheeling and soaring over the ocean - no longer threatened by the greed of man.

This book is an amazing and mind-boggling effort to bring the continent of Antarctica to life for all to see and experience, albeit vicariously. The work, endless dedication, and exacting attention to even the minutest detail set this magnificent book apart from all others of its genre. It is, in my opinion, the most beautifully conceived art book that I have ever seen. Not only is the photography in "Antarctica" exceptional and awe-inspiring, but in addition, the leather, binding technique, paper selection, etc.--all contribute to its incredible uniqueness.

I had the pleasure of sharing a tent with Rosemarie Keough during the photographing of the Emperor Penguins at the Dawson-Lambton Glacier in November/December 2000, and I can attest first hand to her ceaseless pursuit to capture on film as many phases of Emperor Penguin activity that constantly changing weather conditions would allow. No easy task, to be sure, but one done with much caring and love for Nature and its handiwork.

Anyone who would like to own a rare masterpiece of shear exquisiteness should not hesitate to add this magnificent volume to his/her collection.

ANTARCTICA arrived this morning. I've never seen anything so beautiful; it takes my breath away. The photos are so incredible that even as the viewer, it feels like I'm behind the lens. Thanks to Pat and Rosemarie Keough for completing this important work and sharing it with the rest of the world, especially for those of us who will never set foot on Antarctica--but we have visited there--because of the Keoughs and their photographic genius.

ANTARCTICA is a stunning book of such exceptional quality that it almost defies an adequate review. Pat and Rosemarie Keough have produced and edited this volume, and filled this first book of their Explorer Series with world-class photographs, each individually captured and carefully selected, to lovingly show the wildlife, the structural landscapes, and the stark physical beauty of this rarely visited continent and the subantarctic islands. Accompanying the stunning photographs is a beautifully written description which further amplifies the unique features of this frozen land. The pages of this book have been carefully handsewn, and the cover is bound in fine goatskin. The book is delivered in a well constructed presentation box.
The final product is an exceptional example of uniting the craft of publishing, handsewn book binding, and stunning photography with flowing text. The photographs themselves leave one amazed at the beauty of this continent.
The Keoughs have received fourteen major publication and artistic awards for the overall excellence of this tome. For me, this exceptional book has such beauty and lasting value, that I plan to bequeath it to the next generation for their pleasure and enjoyment.

I am enjoying my newest Bible, the Archaeological Study Bible: NIV. I definitely would consider this a study Bible rather than one I would take with me to church all the time. The additional historical information is wonderful, but print is small and the Bible is really THICK. I see it as a great addition to my Biblical reference materials. Also, I bought the leather bound version. Since I will use it at home almost exclusively, if I had it to do over again, I'd buy the hard copy.

I am very happy with my purchase of the Limited Edition Archaeological Study Bible. It has such an amazing amount of information that I want to read it every chance I get. Everyone in my Sunday School class wants one. In the short time I've had it, I've been able to answer many questions in my class that no one else knew because of the notes and definitions on each page. It has greatly enhanced our class discussions. I couldn't be more pleased with it.

always happy w/ zondervan - this is an excellent bible, expecially for those who like to see history confirmed

I actually shopped brick and mortar for my bible, but purchased through Amazon. Choosing a bible is a pretty tactile thing, I think. However, I didn't get to see this version out of the box. Probably wouldn't have made a difference, though.

I selected the Limited Edition version of the ASB because I wanted the monotone binding rather than the two-tone in the regular edition. Plus I thought that the "strap" on the front cover was actually, you know, A STRAP! Alas, it is not. It just makes it look all Indiana Jones-ey, which is fine. Would have liked a strap, but I'll live. For the life of me though, I can't find any other differences between the Limited Edition version and the regular one. So apparently the value-add is the binding alone.

I really enjoy the content of the bible, it's amazingly interesting and adds a lot of flavor and context to the scripture, and thus it gets five stars. But let the online buyer beware, the strap is not real!

I purchased this bible for my 23 year old daughter. After reviewing several bible selections at our church's bookstore, she decided on this one since she is a social studies education major and a history buff. I am giving it to her as a graduation gift, but am enjoying looking through it myself before I wrap it. For anyone who has never owned a bible, this is a great one as it has actual pictures of "real" places and brings the story to life.

Although I have been working with leather as a hobby for many years, I learned a good deal from this little gem of a book. Methods and projects are presented very plainly and clearly with series of step by step illustration. These simple black and white line illustrations are brilliantly simple and extremely effective.

If you are interested in, or have a need to stitch leather, you really need this book. As far as I'm aware, it is the only really detailed booklet - which is what it really is - on the subject. Everything is different in leather stitching - the needles, the thread, the starting and finishing techniques, and even the preparation of the base material (i.e., the leather). Know also that if you machine stitch leather, you will still need to know how to hand stitch. The best machine-sewn goods are still hand-finished, for one thing, and there are things you simply can't do on a machine, like blind-stitching under a belt loop. Like many of Stohlman's books, this is an "oldie but a goodie". The size is something between a large pamphlet and a very small book, but the information is priceless.

If you are just starting in hand sewing leather, you need this book. It gives you all of the basic stitches and tools you need. With many tips on helping with speed and making it look great

If you want to know, I mean REALLY want to know how to do this skill, then Stohlman is the one to learn it from. Hand drawn illustrations of the tools and techniques to easily sew leather by hand. Clear instructions, and pelnty of tips and hints to make life, and leather, good!
A basic skill when working with leather, and a good book to learn from.

Stohlman is an excellent teacher of skills in all of his works.
Kay

Clear, concise instructions. Ideal for beginners to the craft. Good diagrams to go with instructions.

Many (many!) years ago I read this story; years later, I saw the film "Smoke" with Harvey Keitel and William Hurt. I was so deeply influenced by both that I suggested that the Great Books discussion group I was in should read this story for our December reading (never mind that half of us are Jewish).

However, back in the day, the story was only a figment of my fevered imagination, if you searched the libraries or the internet (young then). The story had been published only once, in the New York Times, and then dropped to the bottom of the sea. Meanwhile, director Wang had gotten in touch with Auster and they had agreed to make it into a film. So it HAD to exist somewhere, right?

After digging into the internet, I located a gentleman who had published a limited edition, William Drenttel. He had published it in a small run of very nicely bound books for a lot of money, or a REALLY limited edition for well over $100.

I wrote (humbly) to him, and here is what he said:

Lori, happy to send you the text for the limited use of your reading group.
I've attached it as a Word file, as well as posted it below. Hope you have a great evening on 1/19. Best, Bill Drenttel


Published by William Drenttel New York & The Delos Press
December 1992
Printed by Libranus Press, England, in an edition of 450
Story Þrst published in The New York Times on December 25, 1990.


Auggie Wren¹s Christmas Story
Paul Auster
Illustration by Brian Cronin

So that is how my book group was able to discuss "Auggie Wren" years before this book became an affordable reality.

Of course I think it is a wonderful and complex story about growth, redemption, sadness, joy, pain, and how to move on with one's life...instruction of a sort.

Auster is brilliant, as always.

Auggie Wren runs a store where you can buy tobacco and magazines. One day a youth steels a few paperbacks and Augggie Wren runs after him. The young man loses his wallet and Auggie stops to pick it up. He looks in the wallet and finds the address
of what turns out to be the grandmother of our young delinquent. ( I can't tell anymore without spoiling the plot ).

Film director Wayne Wang was seduced by this little story and it was he who persuaded Paul Auster to write the script for "Smoke". (1994).

The present edition of "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story" has two parts. The first part is a kind of introduction and uses a scene from the film where Auggie shows his photo collection to Paul. Even in this introduction reality and fiction are intertwined to become one and the same.(And isn't this the true value of literature, to erase the borderline between dreams and every day reality ?).
The second part is the story like it was told by Harvey Keitel in "Smoke".
At the end Paul Auster says: " As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true."

Auster succeeded in what he attempted to accomplish: to create an unsentimental Christmas story. The story is surprisingly effective, in that the reader is not entirely certain of what direction the plot is going. This slim book -- little more than an elongated article -- is pure, forced action. One event closely follows another. What I enjoyed about it is the series of moral dilemmas offered up to the reader. Should Auggie have turned in the thief? Was it a wise choice to visit the thief's home? Should he have stayed with the grandmother? And should he have taken the camera that he found in the bathroom? If he had not done any of these actions, then we would not have today the collection of Auggie Wren's a-picture-a-day. Does the end justify the means? I read this book to my two sons and had a very interesting discussion regarding the choices that Auggie made. This book, in combination with Auster's "I Thought My Father Was God," makes for worthwhile discussions around small, fascinating stories. The beautiful illustrations by the artist ISOL merit close study.

In this slim book, Paul Auster authors a new version of a Christmas Story. The book recounts a very interesting story about what Christmas means to so many. It represents a time of hopefullness and wishes that people have and how they may come true.

The obvious similarity between Auster's story and O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi" involves the giving of gifts, one person to another, but not in the regular way we give gifts at Christmas. In this book, by a simple twist of fate, Auggie Wren, the protagonist comes upon a wallet, that was dropped. For a long time, Auggie just keeps the wallet, but eventually he attempts to give it back to its owner.

Upon arrival at the owner's house, it turns out, that he is not there at the time. However, the grandmother of the wallet owner is there. And she is blind. Yet, she allows herself to accept the visit and perhaps the spirit of Christmas by allowing Auggie to represent her grandson, as the Grandmother to believe that he is who she wishes him to be. Likewise, Auggie allows himself to accept a gift that is given in a very unusual manner.

While Auggie believes that even blind, the women knew he was not her grandson, yet she allows Auggie to act as the grandson, because that is her most personal wish at that time. In return for this favor, the grandmother in turn gives unknowingly, a gift to Auggie. Auggie though is bothered by the manner in which he acquired the gift and goes back to return it. When he arrives, the Grandmother no longer is resident at the apartment.

What actually happens to her, Auster never reveals. However, the concept of the story is tightly bound to the giving of gifts, one to another, and with the gifts, there is both sorrow and love. As each gives what they have, and each sacrifices what they have, in order to please the other.

Such is the case in this book as well. The book is highly recommemded for those who have a familiarity with "The Gift of the Magi" and also with "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. A good familiarity with those stories enhances the reader's understanding of Auster's point.

Because of the books short text, it can be read in lest than 30 minutes, but it is strongly advised that the reader reread the book immediately after finishing it the first time, in order to get the full flavor and impact of Auster's version of Christmas.

Auggie Wren's Christmas Story by Paul Auster is one of those short books which is fun to read either before, during or even after the holidays.

Paul Auster, the highly regarded author, is asked to write an editorial piece which will appear on Christmas morning in the NY Times. At first Mr. Auster doesn't even want to write the article fearing he has nothing to say, but then he's worn down and agrees to do this. One thing the author knows is he doesn't want to write
anything sentimental. Readers should think of his thoughts as a non Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus. When in fact he sits down to write the article, though, he has trouble actually write this unsentimental tale. Days go by and he has nothing written on paper to show for his efforts.

Fearing he may never write this article, Mr. Auster mentions his problem one day to the man who owns a small newspaper and cigar store in his neighborhood. The man, Auggie Wren promises to tell him a Christmas story if he treats him to lunch. And so over lunch the author listens to a tale which is both sentimental and poignant which asks what does a wallet, a blind woman and a camera have to do with each other. More important than the answer which these questions raise are the more important ones like what is true, what is lying and did any or all of these events really ever happen.

This is a warm and somewhat sentimental story, despite what the author hoped for, about the spirit of the holidays in the tradition of O. Henry's Gift of the Magi. Consider buying this title for next Christmas. This book is just perfect as a holiday gift and sure to be a keeper in the future.

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is a demonstration of New England civility in the 1850s. I believe it went through more than 50 editions by the end of the nineteenth century, so it must have been very widely read at one time. The book is packed with amazing observations. Holmes takes the time to wonder why the sense of smell is the quickest path to memory. He rails against puns in a way that is better than punning. He points out human flaws and praises examples of good living. Trees come alive, through prosaic description and poetic flights. Would you like to go back to the 1850s and have a conversation with a Boston intellectual? Here's your chance. There are many old copies of this book sitting around, but it's nice that it's come back into print (again).... (it's also a quiet love story, by the way)

The imaginary scene is a boarding house breakfast. Conversation is dominated by a lively gent who's seen it all. He holds forth on women, school, philosophy, rowing, interrupted from time to time with verses such as the Deacon's Masterpiece. It's witty, poignant, and rightfully a classic.

Two oral practices flourished in antebellum America: the lecture (or sermon) and the conversation. Lectures, such as Emerson's "The American Scholar" and sermons, such as the abolitionist sermons of Henry Ward Beecher, are well-known examples of this era. But it was also known as the Golden Age of Conversation, and its greatest practitioner was generally agreed to be Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senior.

Holmes was considered an important American writer until the 1920s when he was excised from the American canon by the modernists. They depicted him as willfully provincial, and elitist. What those critics failed to understand was that the Autocrat is also a comic pose, and that Holmes is making sport of everyone, including elitists. Holmes' democratic view of conversation as an open, free-wheeling discourse where anyone could join the Autocrat at his table, as long as they enlivened the conversation, ran counter to the views of his more elitist friends in Boston's Saturday Club in Boston. Holmes loved to talk, and his love for talk made him a democrat, or perhaps a true republican.

His Autocrat is a many sided character: stern and foolish, admonitory and celebratory, a polymorph who will don any temporaty mask necessary to keep the conversation alive. Holmes' playful metaphorical imagination is also a revelation. His gift for translating complex ideas into homey metaphors, aphorisms, and similes is nothing short of miraculous. In the words of another seriously comic American whom I'm sure Holmes would have delighted in, the Autocrat "floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee."

The Autocrat of the Breakfast table begins "in media res," in the middle of a conversation, with the Autocrat attempting to set the rules for conversation at his table. They are generous rules, but even they are open to sabotage by his tablemates at the boarding house. He begins by banning "facts" from his table as impediments to conversation, (a condition that should prevail on today's too numerous current event talking head shows. But I, like the Autocrat, digress).

Here's how the Autocrat starts: "I was just going to say, when I was interrupted, that one of the many ways of classifying minds is under the head of arithmetical and algebraical intellects. All economical and practical wisdom is an extension of the following arithmetical formula: 2 + 2 = 4. Every philosophical proposition has the more general character of the expression a + b = c. We are mere operatives, empirics, and egoists, until we learn to think in letters instead of figures." "They all stared. There is a divinity student lately come among us to whom I commonly address remarks like this. "

In other words, as Gibian says in his marvelous OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES AND THE CULTURE OF CONVERSATION: [The Autocrat] only asks us to study his beliefs the way a pragmatist would study the doctrines of any religion: "I don't want you to believe anything I say; I only want you to to try to see what makes me believe it." How refreshing in this age of factoids and statisticoids recited with rancor and ideological certitude, to hear the Autocrat and his tablemates at the boarding house attempting to fashion a democracy through and by their conversation. Nowadays all we have are the unironic Autocrats, control freaks like John McLaughlin, Ted Koppel, Rush Limbaugh, and that guy on FOX whose name I have, pleasantly, forgotten.

Listening to the Autocrat you can almost hear American singing. It's not exactly Walt Whitman's America, but it's still America in the hopeful, experimental antebellum era, and thus a good antidote to the cold technocratic chatter and lukewarm public relations cant we are showered with in this hypermediated century.

An interesting range of thoughtful opinions, imbedded in a look at American life in the 1850s, by the father of a future Supreme Court Associate Justice. Part of the charm of this book is in the fact that at that time horses had been the only means of human-assisted transportation for the last few thousand years (with the exception of the new-fangled railroad which was changing the world). Electronics were not even imagined. Automobiles were 50 years into the future.

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is a demonstration of New England civility in the 1850s. I believe it went through more than 50 editions by the end of the nineteenth century, so it must have been very widely read at one time. The book is packed with amazing observations. Holmes takes the time to wonder why the sense of smell is the quickest path to memory. He rails against puns in a way that is better than punning. He points out human flaws and praises examples of good living. Trees come alive, through prosaic description and poetic flights. Would you like to go back to the 1850s and have a conversation with a Boston intellectual? Here's your chance. There are many old copies of this book sitting around, but it would be nice if it came back into print.... (it's also a quiet love story, by the way)

Michael Q Pink's "The Bible Incorporated" in your Life, Job, and Business
is a GREAT, quick reference on bible verses by Subject. I use it all the time in speaking preparation. I wanted to buy it in Leather for each of my Board of Directors Members, but Amazon was out of print and availability... SAD. Michael gave me a copy personally years ago when he came up to Gainesville, GA to be on Larry Burkett's live daily Radio Show.
I have always valued the book and found it VERY useful.
Dean O. Webb
Executive Director
Faith Farm Ministries

I was given this book as a gift in 1996. It has been a wonderful help simply because it is the WORD, arranged in such an easy way that you will get biblical answers to: what, when, how to make decisions and take actions in your everyday life questions. I love it! All the people I show it to, want one!

It gives biblical truths and answers to everyday problems. It has quick references to things like how to share your faith, what to do when your depressed, how to manage stress, and much more! Highly reccomended!!!

The size/format of the book is great to keep in a briefcase, jacket pocket, etc. You'll want to carry the book with you, because it offers so much good advice on everyday situations and challenges.

I'm ordering a box of them as gifts to my friends in business, my men's fellowship, and family.

This book has literally saved my life and the lives of a few of my co-workers! It is pure truth. It's practical and straight forward. A must to carry on you, when you are a Christian in corporate America. It's a great gift to give co-workers and friends alike! I'd suggest you buy a few and keep them on hand at work because in corporate America you need all the help you can get!