Though some of the designs are very indifferent, yet there are others which display considerable ability, and several of the single figures are decidedly superior to any that are contained in the other block-books. They are drawn with greater vigour and feeling; and though the designs of the Biblia Pauperum show a greater knowledge of the mechanism of art, yet the best of them, in point of expression and emphatic marking of character, are inferior to the best in the Apocalypse. With respect to the engraving, the cuts are executed in the simplest manner, as there is not the least attempt at shading, by means of cross lines or hatchings, to be perceived in any one of the designs. The most difficult part of the engraver’s task, supposing the drawings to have been made by another person, would be the cutting of the letters, which in several of the subjects must have occupied a considerable portion of time, and have required no small degree of care. The following is a reduced copy of the first cut. [Illustration] In the upper portion of the subject, St. John is seen addressing four persons, three men and a woman; and the text at the top informs us of the success of his ministry: “_Conversi ab idolis, per predicationem beati Johannis, Drusiana et ceteri._”--“By the preaching of St. John, Drusiana and others are withdrawn from their idols.” The letter +a+, a little above the saint’s outstretched hand, indicates that the cut is the first of the series. In the lower compartment St. John is seen baptizing Drusiana, who, as she stands naked in the font, is of very small size compared with the saint. The situation in which Drusiana is placed might be alleged in support of their peculiar tenets, either by the Baptists, who advocate immersion as the proper mode of administering the rite, or by those who consider sprinkling as sufficient; but in each case with a difficulty which it would not be easy to explain: for if Drusiana were to be baptized by immersion, the font is too small to allow her to be dipped overhead; and if the rite were to be administered by mere sprinkling, why is she standing naked in the font? To the right of the cut are several figures, two of whom are provided with axes, who seem wishful to break open the door of the chapel in which St. John and his proselyte are seen. The inscription above their heads lets us know that they are--“_Cultores ydolorum explorantes facta ejus_;”-- “Worshippers of idols watching the saint’s proceedings.”