My interest in the Reformation history brought me to the Geneva Bible. Without a doubt it is one of the most important Bibles to ever be produced. I bought the 1560 Hendrickson facsimile from ChristianBook.com and also the 1599 Geneva Bible from Tolle Lege Press. The latter is a modern typeset version of the the same Geneva translation with some textual updates and expanded marginal notes that were incorporated into the later printing.

I was initially concerned that this 1560 facsimile would be too hard to read with middle English spellings and facsimile print quality. To my surprise, after a week of practice adjusting to the old spellings, idiosyncrasies of middle English and Roman numeral chapters, I can now read it with equal ease to the 1599 modern typeset version and often prefer it.

The layout of the Bible is nothing short of amazing, especially for 1560. We take book and Bible layout design for granted today, however this Bible was ground-breaking in that day. Never before had an entire Bible incorporated chapter and verse delineations, used Roman typeface, had inline marginal notes and cross references, or incorporated opening arguments, or summaries and included reference materials in the back. All are modern Bible features that have the Geneva Bible to thank. Dual column text layout and wood-cut pictures and maps were modern inventions only introduced in the limited circulation of the Matthew's Bible of 1537.

This Geneva 1560 is one seriously beautiful Bible. The very opaque satin light yellow pages have little minimal show through. The paper is heavier than the tissue paper pages of typical high end Bibles. The pages don't dimple or crease easily with normal handling and page turning. As others have mentioned, there are areas where the print quality is faded and spots where words or parts of letters are not fully imprinted. It isn't wide-spread and the vast majority of the Bible is crisp clear with minimal artifacts in the text. With the amazing feat that was accomplished with this 1560 Geneva Bible, I give a little leniency to the crude nature of 16th century printing techonolgy. I appreciate the included Apocrypha for historical context especially of that written in the Maccabees.

The Bible's construction is good and on par with most Bibles with the exception of the cover. The Genuine Leather is ok, but not great. It appears to be a bonded leather with a stamped grain. It is hard and slick to the touch. I understand Hendrickson probably made this choice to keep the cost to a minimum. It is a small quibble in light of everything else this Bible offers, however for such a fantastic production it deserves an upgraded option. I would gladly pay a premium to have a goat skin or high quality calf skin cover version. That aside, if you have any interest at all in Reformation history this is a must have.

I love this bible. I chose the leather one to add to my bible collection. I love how this bible is a copy of a genuine 1560 edition. The type setting is small but most readable. The marginal notes however will require one to put on a set of reading magnifiers. I have 20/20 vision but to read this bible's notes comfortably, a magnifying glass is needed. The 1560's text appears virtually identical to the 1599 Geneva. The marginal notes however are dramatically different between the two. This is a thick and large bible with the Aprocrypha. Because this is a facsimile copy (read: colored PHOTO COPY), naturally every light printing and blemish is going to be identical on these copies. For anyone to complain about this bible having "too light" or "blemished type set," they dont understand the fact that this is a professionally made photo-copy of a very old bible in a univeristy. It is a teriffic bible translation and really fun to read through some really old Elizibethan english. I just wish the leather quality was nicer, but it is what it is for a mass produced "leather bible.". I could always get it re-bound later.

The leather cover is best when replaced with goatskin like I did - but as a Bible to carry to church services, it is wonderful as is! For serious followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, it should be the ONLY ONE to compare others to - It should be THE source for facts alone! The quality is a 9 out of 10, since I have been using mine since it came out - later than planned by Hendrickson Pub. of course - but I was impressed at the first touch! It is a King James, without baptismal regeneration verses, and makes a great witnessing tool, especially to those who believe in baptism for salvation, (which NO christian should believe) and is pure in wording and stronger than the KJV in Baptist doctrine!!! I have preached many times, and taught from it many times, and use it 100% of my Bible reading time.

The Bible quality and value seem to be great and it did meet my expectations, but I learned something new about the Geneva Bible and now have buyer's remorse.

I thought it would be great to own a facsimile of an old Bible with very dated English spelling and figured it might be just as good as the King James Bible, after all it was the predecessor of the King James Bible. Then I learned after purchasing this Geneva Bible when watching a documentary on the King James Bible, that even the Puritans who devoutly used this Bible, no longer wanted it and they decided they want a new Bible.

Not long after this I also learned that the Geneva Bible contains at least two contradictions. #1 In II Samuel 21 it says that Elhanan killed Goliath, with I Samuel 17 saying David killed Goliath. #2 II Samuel 21 says that Elhanan killed Goliath, with I Chronicles 20 (a parallel to II Samuel 21) saying Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath. A marginal note says that it was Goliath's brother who Elhanan killed in II Samuel 21, whilst in I Chronicles 20, the text itself states that it was Goliath's brother who Elhanan killed and not a marginal note. This sort of inconsistency has the potential to confuse and/or create unnecessary frustration for reader, particularly those who are quite new to the Bible.

I would recommend this to friends and people here as a historic piece only and not as a replacement/substitute for the King James Bible. It's great to see how our language looked in its earlier years and how fast it matured in just 50 years, from 1560 to 1611.

The first time I found a reproduction of the 1560 Geneva Bible was in a college library, in the 1990s, and it caught my attention and affection then. Since it was reprinted by Hendrickson in 2007 I have purchased several copies, and certainly never resented doing so. This should be kept in print permanently. It is a faithfully translated Bible, based on the original text of Holy Scripture -- a Textus Receptus based Bible -- and key part of our inheritance from the Reformation. Cross-references help you study the word of God. Black-letter text reminds us that all of the Bible is God's word and to be believed and obeyed. Italics show us the translators' honesty about what was supplemented for the sake of a good-grammar translation. There is no study Bible that excels this for reliability. If you buy one, and use it, you will buy more, and it will become one of your favorite gifts to give others. Even those who are "KJV only" will find in this a Bible to respect and admire, and will use it repeatedly for study and reference.