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Letterbook, 1852-1867

Department Archive
Collection George Finlay Papers
Reference No. FIN/GF/B/04
Dimensions 23 x 28 cm
Dates 11 September 1852 - 28 May 1869
Donor/Creator Finlay, George
Scope and Content Black cloth board, calf spine and corners, spine broken, tied together with string, bound; paginated in part at random, bound, with many loose sheets. The letters are frayed at edges and in poor condition; they are 'carbon' copies of letters sent by George Finlay 1852-4, 1858-9, 1861, and 1867, together with drafts of articles and notices of books; pagination noted where it exists.

(1) (3 pp. loose) George Finlay to J. P. Schilizzi Junr., Liverpool. Athens, 29 November 1860.
Re purchase of clothes in England.
(2) George Finlay to M. A. Durand, 7 rue des Grès, Sorbonne, Paris. Athens, 20 December 1860.
Re subscription to Revue des deux mondes and payment for books (in French).
(3) (1 p.) George Finlay to Librarian of Oxford Union Debating Society, Oxford. Athens, 19 December 1860.
Re Union's subscription to Elpis.
(4) (p. 1) George Finlay to Messrs. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. Athens, 3 January 1861.
Re corrigenda to be made in George Finlay's MS. of his History of the Greek Revolution.
(5) (pp. 2-3) George Finlay to Messrs. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. Athens, 13 March 1861.
Submits paper on Ottoman Empire for publication.
(6) (pp. 3-59 with two loose sheets) George Finlay to [?]. 1861.
Draft of paper 'The Euthanasia of the Ottoman Empire' [published in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, no. 547, May 1861, vol. 89, bound in George Finlay's Greek Papers, FIN/GF/E/38 (211)].
(7) (pp. 60-6) George Finlay to Editor of Athenaeum. Athens, 18 September 1861.
Submits notice on J. G. von Hahn's work, Reise von Belgrad nach Saloniki, published in Memoirs of Historical Section of lmperial Academy of Vienna, vol. xi, published separately, Vienna, 1861. Advantages of H's proposed railway. H also notes increasing Albanian population; value of H's geographical and ethnological observations.
(8) (p. 67 +1 sheet attached) George Finlay to [?]. Athens, 15/27 September 1861.
Regret at not being able to assist. Complains of neglect of Greek government (in Greek).
(9) (pp. 68-78) George Finlay to Professor C. C. Felton. Athens, 26 November 1861.
Re difficulties of travelling to Greece. Comments on American Civil War. Refer­ence to George Finlay's History of the Greek Revolution and to modern Greek sculpture. Auto­biographical sketch of George Finlay. Wishes to acquire portraits of American philhellenes.
(10) (pp. 79-85) George Finlay to Professor Comnos, Athens. Athens, 27 September 1862. Discussion on unpublished Hellenistic coin in possession of C. Numismatic prob­lems.
(11) (loose, 3 pp.) George Finlay to [?]. [? 1862].
List of books to be ordered.
(12) (pp. 284-5) George Finlay to Leicester Warren. 2 June 1866.
Thanks for patronizing George Finlay's Thoughts [about the Coinage of the Achaian League, Lon­don, 1866]; asks him to arrange for publisher to send copies to various English scholars. Remarks on some Athenian coins (as and obolos). Comments on Greek internal situation.
(13) (pp. 303-4+1 sheet attached) George Finlay to W. S. Stillman, United States Consul, Canea, Crete. Athens, 16 March 1867.
Approval of Cretan declaration of lndependence; George Finlay's opinion re foreign assistance and Cretan problem.
(14) (p. 307) George Finlay to the Revd. J. H. Hill. Athens, 28 May 1869.
George Finlay's apologies for absence from meeting of Anglo-Greek Committee.
(15) (2 loose sheets, torn) George Finlay to Messrs. W. Blackwood, Edinburgh.
Re probable publication of George Finlay's work [on the Greek Revolution]; corrections proposed.
(16) (unpaginated, 6 pp., loose) George Finlay to Editor of Athenaeum. Athens, 17 February 1854. Request to publish George Finlay's enclosed notice on J. G. von Hahn's work on Albanians recently published by Imperial Press at Vienna.
(17) (unpaginated, 3 pp. loose, end missing). George Finlay to Messrs. W. Blackwood and Sons. Athens, 28 October 1856.
Discussion of proposal to publish second edition of George Finlay's History of Greece under Romans.
(18) (unpaginated, 2 pp., loose) George Finlay to A. Durand, Bookseller, rue des Grès 5, Paris. Athens, 11 February 1858.
Acknowledges receipt of Isambert Catalogue of Coins and Medallions (in French).
(19) (unpaginated, 2 pp., loose) George Finlay to A. Durand. Athens, 18 February 1858.
Request for coins and medallions from lsambert collection.
(20) (unpaginated, 1 p., loose) George Finlay to Sculudi. [? Athens] n.d. Order for clothes.
(21) (unpaginated, 1 p., loose) George Finlay to A. Durand, 7 rue des Grès, Sorbonne, Paris. Athens, 25 March 1858.
Encloses bill of exchange in payment for coins and medallions.
(22) (unpaginated, 2 pp.) George Finlay to Demarch of Athens. Athens, 11 September 1852. Finlay's reasons for refusing to pay for repairs to his house in Odos Adrianou (in Greek).
(23) (unpaginated, 2 pp., loose) George Finlay to Demarch of Athens. Athens, November 1852. Request that police clean street between the houses of General Church and Mr. King. This is visited by all travellers of distinction and its present insanitary condition fosters disease and makes bad impression (in Greek and English).
(24) (unpaginated, 3 pp.) George Finlay to C. Moussouris, Corfu. Athens, 18/25 October 1852.
Re liquidation of Bank of Piraeus, and George Finlay's accusation against managers.
(25) (unpaginated, 2 pp.) George Finlay to Charles W. Merlin, British Vice-Consul at Athens. Athens, 7 December 1852.
Private letter re Commission formed to inquire into affair of Bank of Piraeus.
(26) (unpaginated, 2 pp.) George Finlay to C. W. Merlin, Acting Consul, Athens. Athens, 7 December 1852.
Formal letter re Commission inquiring into affair of Bank of Piraeus.
(27) (unpaginated, 1 p.) George Finlay to Messrs. Merlin and Balanos. Athens, 26 November/ 8 December 1852'.
Re Piraeus Bank affair (in Greek and English).
(28) (unpaginated, 1 p.) George Finlay to C. W. Merlin. Athens, 8 December 1852. Acknowledging second consular communication on Piraeus Bank affair.
(29) (loose, 1 p.) 6/18 September 1852.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(30) (loose, 1 p.) 6/18 September 1852.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(31) (loose, 3 pp.) 21 October 1852.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(32) (bound, 1 p.) 14 December 1852.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(33) (bound, 1 p.) 8/20 December 1852.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(34) (bound, 2 pp.) 3/15 January 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(35) (bound, 2 pp.) 20 January 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(36) (bound, 2 pp.) 18 February 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(37) (bound, 2 pp.) 19 February 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(38) (bound, 1 p.) 1/13 April 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(39) (loose, 1 p.) 2/14 April 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(40) (bound, 1 p.) 3/15 April 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(41) (3 pp.) George Finlay to Editor of The Times, London. Athens, 7 July 1853.
Protest against agents of Austrian steam packets who illegally retain passports.
(42) (bound, 1 p.) 11/23 July 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(43) (bound, 2 pp.) 12/24 July 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(44) (unpaginated, 1 p.) George Finlay to Secretary of General Post Office, London. Athens, 7 October 1853.
Requests dispatch of papers by English mail from Southampton.
(45) (unpaginated, 1 p.) George Finlay to H. F. Munster, Trieste. Athens, 13 October 1853. Informs M. that Heimbach's Basilica has already been paid for.
(46) (bound, 1 p.) 4/16 December 1853.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(47) (1 p.) George Finlay to the Revd. J. H. Hill. Athens, 20 January 1854.
Request for H's good offices in obtaining information concerning activities of English and American missionaries in order to complete George Finlay's chapter in History of Greece under Foreign Domination.
(48) (bound, 2 pp.) 13/25 January 1854.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(49) (1 p.) George Finlay to M. Sculudi, Athens. Athens, 2 February 1854. Request for payment of sum due (in French).
(50) (bound, 1 p.) 8/20 February 1854.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(51) (bound, 1 p.) 22 March 1854.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(52) (bound, Ip.) 2 June 1854.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(53) (2 pp.) George Finlay to Messrs. Firmin, Didot Frères, rue Jacob 56, Paris.
Re books sent in error by George Finlay (in French).
(54) (2 pp.) George Finlay to Messrs. Firmin, Didot Frères, rue Jacob 56, Paris. Athens, 11 October 1854.
Order for books (in French).
(55) (bound, 1 p.) 18/31 October 1854.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(56) (bound, 1 p.) 2/14 November 1854.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(57) (1 p.) George Finlay to Firmin, Didot Frères, Paris. Athens, 22 November 1854.
Re payment of books purchased by George Finlay.
(58) (bound, 2 pp.) 3/15 December 1854.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(59) (loose, 1 p.) 28 December 1857/9 January 1858.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(60) (2 pp.) George Finlay to A. Durand, 7 rue des Grès, Sorbonne, Paris. Athens, 24 April 1855. Book order.
(61) (3 pp., incomplete) George Finlay to 'Excellency'. Athens, 28 April 1855.
Brigandage in Greece; George Finlay accuses Mavrocordatos, Minister of lnterior, of failure to take effective action.
(62) (3 pp.) George Finlay to Messrs. W. Blackwood and Sons. Athens, 30 May 1855.
Re addenda and corrigenda to proposed second editions of George Finlay, Byzantine History, vol. i, and Greece under the Romans.
(63) (unpaginated, 3 pp.) George Finlay to James Finlay. Athens, 30 May 1855. English lack of interest in Greek affairs; failure of allies' half measures.
(64) (2 pp.) George Finlay to Messrs. A. Durand, 5 rue des Grès, Sorbonne, Paris. Athens, 20 June 1855.
Re payment for books; list of desiderata.
(65) (3 pp., first part missing) George Finlay to [Bracebridge]. n.d. [? 1856].
Kallergis's resignation and new constitution; military government necessary to exterminate brigandage; new communal system needed.
(66) (2 pp.) George Finlay to Jonas King. Athens, 28 September 1856.
Proposal for arrangements with municipal authorities concerning street between the houses of King and George Finlay.
(67) (2 pp., one loose) George Finlay to Messrs. Halliday and Storrs, Lord St., Liverpool. Athens, 23 July 1857.
Order for clothes.
(68 and 69) (each 1 p., loose) George Finlay to Messrs. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. Athens, 2 December and 3 December 1856.
Two letters concerning George Finlay's corrections for second edition of History of Greece under the Romans.
(70) (2 pp., loose, incomplete) George Finlay to Editor of Athenaeum. Athens, 16 December 1856. Athenaeum erroneously refers to George Finlay as Consul at Athens. George Finlay complains of indiffer­ence to his work.
(71) (2 pp., loose) George Finlay to Rollin, Paris. Athens, 30 December 1856.
Re payment for medallions purchased by George Finlay (in French).
(72) (1 p.) George Finlay to Librarian of Garrison Library, Corfu. Athens, 10 August 1857. George Finlay presents his works.
(73) (2 pp.) George Finlay to A. Durand, Paris. Athens, 8 April 1858.
Medallions from Isambert collection do not tally with catalogue description.
(74) (2 pp.) George Finlay to James Finlay. Athens, 8 April 1858.
Re the three allied Powers and Greek finances.
(75) (loose, 1 p.) n.d. [? April 1858]. George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(76) (loose, 1 p.) 4/17 April 1858.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(77) (loose, 2 pp.) 19 April/1 May 1858.
George Finlay to General Sir Richard Church.
Asks for payment of arrears of rent owed to George Finlay.
(78) (2 pp.) George Finlay to A. Durand, rue des Grès, Sorbonne, Paris. Athens, 1858.
Re items from Isambert collection purchased by George Finlay.
(79) (1 p.) George Finlay to Marinakis, Advocate. Athens, 10/22 June 1858. Acknowledges receipt of Marinakis's letter.
(80 and 81) (3 pp. and 1 p.) George Finlay to Messrs. W. Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh.
Athens, 24 June/1 July 1859. Book orders.
(82) (5 pp.) George Finlay to Sir Patrick Colquhoun. Athens, 22 February 1859.
Agrees with English policy in Ionian Islands, but admits Ionian desire for union with Greece; comments on English attitude towards Ionian problem.
Notes Where conservators have backed fragile letters onto sturdier paper, the reverse has not been scanned. Some shots appear to be upside-down, but Finlay had a habit of writing on one side of a piece of paper then turning it over vertically, so that the next side appeared upside down. Finlay sometimes also begins writing in a book from the front, then turns it flips it over and starts writing from the back, upside-down. When this is the case, the writing at the back can appear upside-down.


There is some inconsistency in page counts. Joan Hussey counted sides as pages, so a letter with three leaves would have six pages. This has been left intact in the ‘Scope and Content’ field, but in the ‘Extent and Medium’ field, the pages of letters have been counted by counting leaves of paper – so a letter of three leaves would have three pages.


Many records are undated, so will not appear in a search with a date range.


Locations have been added as tags if they are explicitly mentioned in the ‘Scope and Content’ field, apart from FIN/GF/B/09, when the location of the publication and title is not included.


Items were chosen to be digitized according to the relevance to the 1821 Greek Revolution and their fragility.


Loose items found in books were generally shot in a standard method. First the front of the item was shot as it was found in the book, then it was shot on its own, then the back, then the book without the item.


Where a large number of blank pages has appeared in an item, a blank page insert has been added, to avoid using the digitization budget on blank pages while also helping the researcher to understand the physical item.


Greece was one of the last European countries to adopt the newer Gregorian calendar. For most of the nineteenth century, the Julian calendar was 12 days behind the Gregorian. British correspondents in the Finlay Collection tend to use the newer calendar. Letters with two dates 12 days apart, eg. 24 April / 6 May 1828, refer to both the Julian and Gregorian calendars.