Budge_Ethiopic_Alexander

XXIV INTRODUCTION.
other Euro- But if Eastcm nations were delighted to read
s/on". ""'the legends of Alexander, no less readiness to do
so was shewn by the Western nations of Europe,
and as a result we have a version in German by
Lamprecht, versions in French by Alberic de Be-
sangon, Lambert li Tors, Alexandre de Bernay,
Thomas of Kent, and many others, besides trans-
lations into Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian,
Swedish, Slavonian, Scotch and Eno-lish." Thus
we see that the history and legends of Alexander
became known from Malay on the East to the
British Isles on the West, and from Sweden on
the north to Abyssinia on the south; few books
have travelled so far and still fewer have been
so thoroughly welcomed and adopted into the
literature of the various nations of the world.
Ethiopichis- Xhe Ethiopic histories of Alexander published
tories of
Alexander, m this book fall naturally into four groups:
i. The Version of the Pseudo-Callisthenes.
ii. The Extracts from larger historical works,
i. e., from Al-Makin, Abii Shaker, and Joseph ben-
Gorion.
iii. A brief Life by an anonymous author.
iv. A Christian Romance.
The Ethio- i. Of all these the most interesting and most
" Callisthenes. When and by whom this translation
caiiisthen-"' Valuable historically is the Version of the Pseudo-
or version was made we know nothing, but that
it was made from the Arabic there is little doubt,
' For the editions see my Alexander, pp. ex, cxi.