The Jatakamala or Garland of Birth Stories by Aryasura retells in Classical Sanskrit 34 of the Buddha's previous lives, illustrating the virtues he pursued during the time he was striving in previous births before attaining Awakening. The text was beautifully translated by the Dutch scholar J S Speyer and published in 1895 as the first book in the Sacred Books of the Buddhists series. The "Garland of Birth-stories" belongs to the Canon of the Northern Buddhists. An English translation of this famous collection of Jataka stories, including one not found in the Pali collection (with an embedded reading of the text). The book first published in1895.