Once all the quires had been sewn into the sewing support it would be time to add the wooden boards for the front and back covers. The best boards would be created from quarter-sawn wood so they would not warp. The manuscript would be attached to the boards in chiseled out channels using the ends of the sewing support. The inside of the boards would be covered in parchment called pastedown. Leaves used as pastedown weren’t always brand new. Binders would reuse leaves that had been discarded for some reason or another. The outside of the boards would be covered in some sort of tanned animal hide. This leather was sometimes decorated by stamping a design into it. Finished manuscripts might also be given some sort of claps or strap to help keep it closed.

The manuscript to the right is very revealing.  Around the edges we can see where the animal skin cover has worn away to reveal the wooden boards beneath and a claps and strap have been added to keep the book closed.

The image to the left shows the inside of  a bound manuscript where a leaf was reused in the paste down. "Such reused leaves are sometimes of great interest to scholars because they may provide significant evidence about otherwise lost manuscripts" (Graham and Clemens 51).