Manuscript covers were frequently reused or repaired, as they were often made of parchment (and, in later periods, also paper) — both valuable materials that were too expensive to discard. As a result, old bindings were often dismantled and their materials repurposed, giving new life to what had already served its original function. This practice can still be observed today in archival contexts, such as in the Archivio di Stato di Firenze, where it is not uncommon to find statutes or administrative deliberations bound in reused covers (‘coperte’) originating from entirely different textual and documentary settings. These material traces reveal how, in the past, written culture was continuously recycled — texts and supports moving across time, function, and meaning.