Very pretty and attractive is the volume of "Spanish Legendary Tales," put together by Mrs. Middlemore, and just published by Messrs. Chatto and Windus. I say "put together," because Mrs. Middlemore herself tells us that the tales are not at all of her invention, but have been taken down, more or less closely, from the lips of Spanish peasants. They have, in fact, the great merit of being " at first hand." If it be suggested that many of these "Legendary Tales " have a weird and tragic air, Mrs. Middlemore accounts for it by explaining that such is the general character of the Spanish legend. And to the suggestion that the style of them seems to be of a different character from that which might be expected from peasants, she replies that the Spanish must not be judged by the English variety. The Spanish peasant, she assures us, is "not wholly destitute of what may fairly be called culture." Altogether, Mrs. Middlemore's volume is full of interest, and in the thirty tales contained in it everybody is sure to find something that will give him or her pleasure. The book, too, has a sort of ethnological value. -Gossip of the Week, Vol. 1. [1885]