The results may be seen to this day in the magnificent engravings by the great artists of the beginning of the sixteenth century, which, notwithstanding the difficulties under which they laboured, have never been excelled.[12] Their productions, even when it comes to initials, are real compositions with a personal character. [12] At this time the wood employed for engraving was pear, and the surface of the block was parallel to the fibre. This made cross-hatching most difficult of execution, and in consequence of the extreme care and attention necessary, it is said that the work took eight or nine times as long as at present. It is only since the days of Bewick that boxwood has been used, and the blocks cut with the fibre of the wood perpendicular to the surface. To mention those only who designed initial letters, and of whose works we shall give specimens, there were Albert Dürer, Hans Burgkmair, Hans Holbein, Hans Schauffelein, Anton von Worms, Lucas Cranach, Hans Baldung Grün. We have here to speak of the initials generally attributed to Hans Burgkmair, but which, according to Dr. H. Röttinger, ought to be assigned to Hans Weiditz, one of his pupils. These initials are to be met with for the most part in the publications of Heinrich Steyner in 1531 and the following ten or eleven years, and come mostly from German translations of classical authors. The influence of Albert Dürer, of whom Burgkmair was himself the pupil, is clearly seen. Different treatises and different editions of Cicero were published in 1531, 1535, 1540; of Herodianus in 1531; Justinus, 1531; Boccaccio, 1532; Cassiodorus, 1533; Plutarch, 1534; Petrarch, 1542, in all of which we meet with specimens of these letters. The Z with a fox trying to get at the poultry in the market-woman’s basket is from the German _Cicero_. The C (bagpiper) and the N (caricature with big head and small legs) and the P with a peacock are from the _Magni Aurelii Cassiodori variarum libri xii_. The E with the monk and nun, and the C and H in a different style, are from the German _Petrarch_. The other initials are from one or other of the volumes mentioned. CHAPTER III ULM AND NUREMBERG