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October 01, 2007: India: "Of Rare Books and Old World Treasures"
"The Asiatic Society of Mumbai is located in this building. It was established in the year 1804 by James Mackintosh, who was the the Recorder (chief judge) of Bombay . Mackintosh was fascinated with India and soon after arriving in Bombay he and other like-minded Britishers established the Literary Society of Bombay. The purpose was the ‘promotion of literary and scientific investigations connected with India and the study of literature, antiquities, arts and sciences of the East, generally’. The Literary Society of Bombay is considered the second oldest institution of its kind in existence anywhere in the world, only preceded by the Bengal Asiatic Society. "
