The creation of the mass market printing press in the late 1400s inspired the search for more efficient bookbinding methods. Bookbinding became an art form. The covers were originally calfskin and called "full-leather bound." As more books were printed and sold, wood emerged as a cheaper alternative. Wood from poplar and yew were used. The early binding machinery used in the early periods was also made of wood, most often oak.
Binder's board is made from the wood pulp of longleaf pine trees woven together with various wood fibers. It's a single-ply compressed wood that comes in varying thickness from .06 inches to .098 inches. Binder's board, sometimes called book board, is not available available to publishers; the average consumer can purchase it in art supply stores. Serious scrapbookers bind their own scrapbooks with binder's board and wood glue. Wood for publishing comes from managed timberlands. These are forests planted for the sole purpose of human consumption.
Pasted board and red board are lower-grade versions of binder's board. In the book, "Bookmaking: Editing, Design, Production," Marshall Lee writes that pasted board is the predominant binding choice for trade books. It is comprised of multiple layers of chipboard or oaktag pasted together. Red board is a flexible material used for pocket-sized books and some Bibles. Both of these bookbinding resources are made of douglas fir or pine fibers.
Some binding is not made up of virgin wood (wood pulp from freshly chopped-down trees). Environmentally friendly processes have been created for recycling discarded books to create new covers from the recycled parts. In the book, "More Making Books By Hand," Peter Thomas writes, "Acid-free archival board and neutral pH based board, boxboard, or barrier board are available from conservation supply companies." It should be noted that even recycled paper and binder's board contains anywhere from 10-to-20-percent virgin wood from pine pulp or fir.