According to the legends of ancient India. This Life of Buddha is not a work of fiction. The author consulted many books, both ancient and modern. He mainly relied upon the Lalita-Vistara, a jumbled collection of legends and scholastic dissertations in which many traditions regarding the Buddha's origin, childhood, youth, early education and his first deeds are told. Herold also used such other works as the Buddhacarita, Jatakas, Avadanasataka, Le Bouddha, Histoire du Bouddhisme Dans L'Inde and Journal Asiatique.