Puritan Treasures for Today
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This is a different kind of video from my usual reviews: an overall look, a compare and contrast, of the series Puritan Treasures for Today from Reformation Heritage Books. I have five of them here, out of about a dozen or more recently reprinted. In the fall I'm hoping to review them one by one (that became our series Why You Should Read the Puritans), so this is the preface.
What the series is for
At the front of each book, series editors Joel Beeke and Jay Collier explain that interest in the Puritans keeps growing, but many people find these giants of the faith a bit unnerving to read. So the series presents Puritan books convenient in size and unintimidating in length, carefully edited for modern readers (smoothing out difficult language while keeping the authors' meaning), and selected for their counsel on subjects people still wrestle with today. What a great thing they've done for the church.
The look and feel
I'm a huge guy on cosmetics, especially with books.
Continuity of color. Take Contentment, Prosperity, and God's Glory by Jeremiah Burroughs. The beautiful cover painting has a grayish tone, and that same color is used for the spine, the author's name, the subtitle and the Reformation Heritage Books imprint. Prizing Public Worship by David Clarkson does the same with a lighter gray, and Stop Loving the World by William Greenhill with brown. Every single one. They really went the extra mile.
Materials. The cover is a rough, rippled paper that gives a real booklike feel. The pages are creamy, not an ugly bleached white, which makes them easy to read.
Size. They're about the size of an average hand, easy to carry, and when you open them they just feel like good books. As far as paperbacks go, I couldn't be happier.
Compared with Banner of Truth's Puritan Paperbacks
The closest comparison is Banner of Truth's Puritan Paperbacks. Nothing here is a knock on Banner of Truth's content or how they put their books together. Both series will last for many years, and the Puritan Paperbacks aren't going anywhere. I'm just comparing the two.
- Color. The Treasures have continuity across the whole series: every cover has mountains and valleys, and lined up they share one palette. The Puritan Paperbacks come in color categories (gray, red and others) that don't really go together, and there's little continuity even on a single book beyond black and white.
- Materials. The Paperbacks have the classic, somewhat cheap-feeling glossy cover and smooth, bleached white pages. The Treasures' creamy paper makes for an easier, more enjoyable read.
- Type. About the same size, though the fonts differ. The Treasures have better spacing and fewer words per page, which I find easier to read. But because of the white paper, the print is actually darker in the Puritan Paperbacks, so technically the ink is better there. For readability I'd still choose the Treasures any day of the week.
- Size. Very similar, but the Treasures are about an eighth of an inch narrower on each side, and I just find their dimensions more aesthetically pleasing.
This isn't sponsored. I just really like these books, and I think they'll be valuable to Christians and to the church for many generations to come.
Soli Deo Gloria!
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