The first of Reverend James Long's seven bibliographies, Granthabali, was released in 1852 by the Serampore Mission Press. Between 1801 and 1867, he compiled a number of Bengali writings, and the Granthabali is a very uncommon one of them. An index of broad subject areas for the books featured in the compilation is included in the Granthabali's first section. Among the many subject categories are those for history, narratives, novels, medicine, poetry, short stories, moral instruction, Christian tracts, periodicals, physics, the Vedas, Vaishnava writings, geography, law, Islamic texts, essays, grammar, and newspapers.

The Granthabali includes an index of subject headings, covering a wide range of topics such as History, Narratives, Novel, Medicine, Poetics, Christian Tracts, Short Stories, and more. It also mentions specific texts under each subject, providing readers with an idea of the content. For example, Ritusamhara by Kalidasa and the Iliad by Homer are listed under Poetics, while popular newspapers like Sambad Bhaskar and Sambad Prabhakar are mentioned under newspapers.