Pocket or Purse Greek New Testaments
Information and Sales
Left to right: Σωτήρ Brotherhood edition (vest-pocket size), Ζωή Brotherhood edition, Hellenic Bible Society edition, PocketGNT edition
While most people these days use electronic devices to make the Greek New Testament text portable, some prefer a small paper copy. I know of no major publisher who offers a shirt-pocket-sized Greek NT for sale in the Western Hemisphere.
A small, family-run firm in South Dakota began in early 2023 offering hand-bound copies of the 1904 edition of Eberhard Nestle's Greek text, which has been available in accurate electronic form in the public domain for many years. Prices as of March, 2023 range from $35-$60. These testaments are not available through me; you will find them at www.pocketgnts.com.
I encourage you to check out what is offered there. As far as I am aware, these are the only shirt-pocket-sized editions of a critical-type text available anywhere in the world.
Several publishers in Greece offer shirt-pocket-sized editions of the Patriarchal Text of 1904, which is a Byzantine Majority-type text. Most of these editions are available for sale at various websites in Greece, with varying degrees of ease in locating and purchasing the desired item. One edition, the slimmest, is available only in quantity and must be paid for by wire transfer, rendering it practically inaccessible to individual buyers who cannot visit the bookstores in Greece where it is for sale.
To aid those who would like to purchase such small editions of the Greek NT and who prefer or are at least willing to have a Majority-type text, at price points lower than are possible for the hand-bound editions mentioned above, I am stocking and offering for sale several editions that I have been able to locate and import.
As you would expect, the editions differ in quite a variety of ways, making it difficult to make a selection without holding copies of them in your own hands for comparison. To facilitate decision-making, I have prepared a 7-page PDF document
comparing the available editions. Among other kinds of information it contains is a page that, when printed at 100% scaling, will show a page photo from each edition at its actual size, to aid in determining adequacy of font size. All of these editions are readable for people with average vision, but those with weaker vision may find some of them to be too small. Type sizes vary from approximately 6 to 8 points, which is a significant difference.
Possibly too small to read here (depending on your device), but at least to show the value of this file's contents, I supply a page image of the comparison chart included in the document. Some entries shown as "??" indicate that the chart is not yet in its complete form, as I am still awaiting the arrival of one of the editions.
IMPORTANT NOTES REGARDING SALES FROM THIS WEB PAGE
- Prices for purchases from me include Media Mail postage to US addresses. Buyers outside the US will probably do better to purchase directly from Greece, from the websites provided in the PDF document described above. Buyers outside the US who want to buy from me should message me for details, using the Contact Form on my home page.
- To keep prices down, I am choosing to sell via my website in order to avoid commissions charged by mainstream sellers. Since my web-design skills are limited, I have not yet learned how to provide for easily ordering multiple copies. I've learned enough, though, to expect to be able to implement this functionality if there is demand for it. In the meanwhile, those who want multiple copies should place separate orders with little or no time lapse between them. When I see multiple copies ordered by the same person and going to the same address, I will combine them into a single shipment and then issue a refund reflecting the reduced shipping cost. Rather than promise a fixed reduction, I will just assure you that at least 75% of the postage savings will be returned to you, likely around $3 per copy. I may need to keep a portion of the reduction to pay for a more expensive mailing container.
At present I have copies of one shirt-pocket edition in hand and ready to sell, the one published by the Ζωή Brotherhood of Theologians.
- This is the slimmest of the editions I'll have for sale, at just half an inch thick. Height and width are 4.7"x3.6".
- Its chapter numbers are Greek-letter numerals, so I have provided a label on the front flyleaf listing the Arabic-numeral equivalents. A little practice, of course, brings familiarity with the Greek scheme.
- As it comes from the publisher, this edition lacks a ribbon bookmark, but I have attached one.
Note that this edition is not available for sale on the internet directly from Greece. As far as I'm aware, I am the only source for this edition except for the in-person bookstores where it is sold in Greece.
$21.75, including Media Mail Postage to US Addresses
See "Important Notes" above for other shipping situations
Other pocket editions coming in April, 2023, the Lord willing!
For information about and photos of these editions, see the comparison document mentioned a little way down from the top of this page.