Among others, the manuscript collection discusses the well-known life-story of
Alexander the Great, the son of
Philip II, king of
Macedon, who lived in the 4th century BC, and subjects classified as
secular Middle Ages literature, including Southern
Slavic literature. In the Middle Ages, the
Latin version of the manuscript collection was widely available in
Western Europe. One of them, created in the 10th century, served as a basis for many adaptations in the
French,
German and
Czech literatures. Two versions appeared in different times in the
Slavic south: Bulgarian (10th–11th century) and
Serbian (end of the 13th century, and the beginning of the 14th century. The Bulgarian National Library manuscript is one of the earliest Slavic
transcriptions of this work, abounding in illustrations. It contains the Serbian version of the story, popularly known as the "Serbian Alexandria". As a typical work of the literature of the fantastic
heroes, with a rich and entertaining
narrative, this story was well known in the 14th century and 15th century in the Slavic world. Encouraged by printed editions of the work, interest in it continued until the 19th century. == References==