The Asiatic Society of Mumbai has its origins from the Literary Society of Bombay founded by Sir James Mackintosh that met in Mumbai on November 26, 1804, for the first time. It was named as Asiatic Society of Bombay in 1954, after the institution broke away from the Royal Asiatic Society. When the name of the city changed to Mumbai, the library was renamed to its present name in 2002. The free lending library located in Churchgate, Mumbai is said to house several books in a variety of languages including Persian, Sanskrit and Prakrit. Out of these 15,000 are deemed rare and valuable, which include one original copy of Dante’s Divine Comedy, a 1214 Sanskrit script of Vasupujyacharita (life of Jain Tirthankara Vasupujya), and a 16^th century illustrated version of the Mahabharata in Sanskrit.. Funded by annual grants by the Central Government of India, the library is currently undergoing massive restoration, and hence is closed for visitors.