e in the romantic European legends of the middle ages, than
Alexander; but our readers may not be generally aware that the feats of
this great conqueror are still perpetuated under a thousand strange
forms even on the remote East, generally under the name of Iskander. "No
historic material has ever been more widely extended than this history
of Alexander, and there are even yet races in the interior of Central
Asia who declare themselves directly descended from him;"--precisely, no
doubt, as certain very respectable families extant at the present day in
Hungary and Italy prove themselves lineal descendants of Julius Caesar,
AEneas, and even Noah. "In the earliest times, even in the very scene of
his exploits, Alexander became a hero of legend-like and
exaggerated histories, a collection of which, bearing the name of
_Pseudo-Callisthenes_, as editor, is yet preserved; and from this came
the innumerable Alexanderine romances of the middle ages, which at
length totally obscured the true accounts of the conqueror. In the East,
also, and particularly in Persia, he has been made the subject of many
great epic poems. The relation existing between all these legends, which
have sprung up at such different times, and under such extremely varied
circumstances, is an interesting problem for the literary historian, and
the book we have mentioned is valuable, since in it every thing relating
to the Persian portion thereof, is given in full." From the index, an
admirable analysis of its contents, and a somewhat extended abridgment,
which we have perused, we may assert that few works more curiously
interesting have for a long time been published.

* * * * *

Of great interest to antiquaries and positive utility to artists, is the
_Trachten des Christlichen Mittelalters_ (or Dresses of the Christian
Middle Age), by J. VON HOFNER. As they are all taken from _contemporary_
works of art, they may be relied on for correctness. The part last
published consists of the second division, embracing guises of the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Among others, the reader may find
Armour of the sixteenth century, the Dress of a lady of rank in the
middle of the same century, a French dress of the fifteenth century, and
a tournament helmet of the same period. Such books serve better than any
reading to impress on the minds of the young correct ideas of past
manners and times.

* * * *