Schuyler Bibles – A Global Enterprise

There is an incredible international collaboration that produces the Schuyler Bible. The Schuyler Bible is an international enterprise that spans about 10 nations and 3 continents and is the result of countless hours of design and detail work and the resulting synergy of 3 principal companies. Hundreds of hours go into the design of the typesetting as well as the actual book design. The design process is conceived in the United States (Schuyler Bibles) and perfected in Denmark (2K/Denmark). Weeks of collaborative work go into choosing spacing, font, format, size – and this list is just the beginning. After dozens of sample pages are produced – a final draft is confirmed and then a 6-8 month process begins in actually arranging about 800,000 words into the typesetting design. The Bible presents many major challenges for the typesetter – not only due to its length, but because formats change in prose and poetry, cross references, footnotes, superscripts, and the list of Bible idiosyncrasies is numerous.
Once the text has been proofread it is sent to the Netherlands (Jongbloed) where the all important printing will occur. Obviously one of the most important factors in Bible printing is the paper. Bible paper is a unique paper because it has to be relatively thin or the book will be extremely thick. Schuyler has chosen Bible paper that is both relatively thin, but also opaque to avoid ‘see through.’ Most of Schuyler’s paper is milled in a paper mill in France near Lake Geneva. This paper mill is known to produce the best Bible paper in the world. Schuyler’s more dense paper used in its Wide Margin Bibles is sourced from a mill in Finland. Schuyler Journal paper is sourced from Spain. This paper is even more opaque than the Wide Margin paper. The cost of the paper used in 1 Schuyler Bible often matches the average cost of a Bible you might find in a bookstore. Schuyler Bibles’ ink is sourced in Germany. Ink is used for the 2 color printing (Schuyler Bible use red and black ink) as well as the hand spraying to produce the ‘art-gilt’ edging. Schuyler Bibles are also passed through boiling gold foil – also sourced in Germany. There are only a handful of printers in the world that can perform this art gilt process. Schuyler’s ribbons come from England and are each placed by hand in each book in the Netherlands. YKK Zippers that will be used in the Personal Size Bibles are sourced from the highest quality zipper manufacturer located in Japan. The book blocks are rounded and put in their goatskin cases. Jongbloed is one of only a handful of companies that have perfected the ‘edge-line binding’ process that produces the most durable books along with calfskin leather lining.
The leather is currently sourced in India (Boko-Haram has shut the door to Nigerian goats). Only goats from tropical climates produce suitable leather for book binding. Tropical climates produce thinner and thus more flexible leather. Most of our calfskin is sourced from either Germany or Italy.
The Bibles are then packaged and shipped from Rotterdam to New York – and then by train to Norfolk. From Norfolk to Virginia they are transported by truck. The Schuyler Bible is a true international enterprise that brings together minds, talents, materials and ingenuity from around the globe. (If you want to know even more – click here)