Glossy Magazine Bible

The Wall Street Journal has a story today by Andrew Losowsky about a new Swedish Language Bible done in a high design magazine layout.

A heavily armed freedom fighter in the Niger Delta stares angrily at the camera, his face hidden behind a black mask. Is this a news story from the latest war zone? No, it's the opening page to the book of Joshua -- the Israeli warrior -- in the new Bible Illuminated.

The Swedish-language Bible marries the standard text to glossy magazine-style design. Full-color pages are illustrated with a striking combination of news and dramatized photographs: a homeless child wrapped in a sweater on the streets of Bogotá, Colombia, illustrates the book of Job; a man who drowned trying to enter Europe, for Deuteronomy; and models posing in stylized scenes convey joy or despair. Bible passages are pulled out as captions.

The publishers wanted to draw new readers by getting rid of what they called "the old heavy book."

Apparently an English language version will be out sometime in 2009. I'm really excited to see what a bible illuminated with photographs and really good modern typography would look like. I may not be able to wait for the English version, to bad I don't read Swedish.

This is an interesting contrast to the illuminated bible project that has been developing here in Minnesota, where St. John's University has commissioned a hand lettered hand illuminated bible. The pages are magnificent, and I seem to recall from the exhibit I went to, the St. John's bible is the first one of it's kind made in over 400 years.

Thanks Fernando & Mary for the tip.