Serampore is Danish, occupied by Britain since 1808 but still legally Danish territory, fifteen miles up the Hooghly and part of the same enclave cluster as Chandernagore and Chinsurah.
Description
Serampore is Danish, occupied by Britain since 1808 but still legally Danish territory, fifteen miles up the Hooghly and part of the same enclave cluster as Chandernagore and Chinsurah.
William Carey, Joshua Marshman and William Ward run a mission there with the most formidable printing operation in Asia: type in dozens of Indian languages, a paper mill, translations of scripture into languages that had never been printed at all, and a serious library. The press burned down in 1812 and they rebuilt it inside a year.
Notable Features
- Grammars, dictionaries and translations in more Indian languages than any other collection anywhere.
- They are welcoming. Visitors are a novelty and the missionaries like an argument. No introduction required, only a boat.
- Their knowledge of Bengali religious practice is detailed, opinionated and hostile, which makes it both useful and in need of correction.
The Senses
- Smell. Printing ink, hot metal, wet paper, and the river.
- Sound. Presses. Several, working, all day.
- Colour. Whitewashed mission buildings, green shutters, rows of type cases, and drying sheets hung like washing.