Limited Editions Club founder George Macy had long desired to publish a fine edition of the Bible. Macy wanted his subscribers to enjoy the Bible not only as a devotional or religious reference work, but as a great work of literature.

Macy designed his Bible accordingly; with continuous paging rather than verse numbers, set in large Monotype Bell and Handset Baskerville, and printed on Worthy special paper.. The 2646 pages of text were divided into five comfortably-sized volumes, each bound in gold-stamped full blue linen and designed to be held in the hand and read. The large initials at beginning of each book are reminiscent of the illuminated capitals of the manuscript tradition, each printed in large type in a single color. Macy designed a book which reflected the Biblical text's eastern origin and manuscript tradition, yet was accessible as literature.