The material analysis of particular manuscripts from the Mardzong collection is supported by archival and bibliographic study and supplemented with ethnographic fieldwork in an interdisciplinary approach that cuts across terminological boundaries. Developing regional typologies from both studying manuscripts and interviewing local people contributes to a better understanding and reconstruction of the lesser-known parts of the history of books and the crafts related to their production, such as papermaking and printing. The documentation of differences in the traditional technology of paper production in various parts of Asia, according to the available materials and the occurrence of papermaking plants, provides an independent source of information that facilitates dating and determining the provenance of still unidentified copies of books.