Leather

Leather is an item that was added along with the introduction of cows. It can be acquired by killing cows and horses, which may drop 0-2 pieces of leather upon death, putting rabbit hide in your cafting table, or rarely from fishing.

Leather is used to craft leather armor, the lowest tier. Despite it being the weakest armor, and not being too difficult to obtain, it is sometimes much harder to obtain than iron. Despite leather armour being weak, it is also the most customizable, being easier to enchant than diamond and also dyeable. Other sets do not have these advantages.

Leather is also required for the crafting of books, which in turn are needed to create bookshelves and the enchantment table. Leather is also needed to craft item frames which are used to display items or blocks.

From cows
Cows drop up to 2 pieces of leather upon death.

From horses
Horses drop up to 2 pieces of leather upon death.

From fishing
Leather is a rare drop that can be obtained from fishing.

History
Leder Cuero Cuir Bőr 가죽 Leer Skóra pt-br:Couro Кожа 皮革