About the George Finlay Papers
The George Finlay Papers contain materials created by and related to the British Historian and Philhellene George Finlay, his father John Finlay, Greek-American Philhellene George Jarvis, and British Philhellene Captain Frank Abney Hastings, dating from 1791 to 1949. Most of the collection consists of George Finlay’s meticulous records of his travels, personal and official correspondence, his personal expenditures, copious memoranda on strategy and on military and political organisation, journal entries, maps, facetiae, scrapbooks, personal notes on people—Greeks and others—and on revolutionary events, newspaper cuttings mainly on Greece and international affairs, as well as Finlay’s original manuscripts of the History of the Greek Revolution (1861) as well as corrected proofs of Finlay’s other published works.
Also included are the papers of Finlay’s father, John, two journals of Greek American philhellene, George Jarvis, and those of Finlay’s fellow British philhellene, Captain Frank Abney Hastings. The Hastings papers, which Finlay purchased in 1830, include personal and official correspondence, ship’s logs, notes that he took on board or ashore, as well as memoranda on strategy and on the naval organisation of the revolutionary forces. Collectively, these records reveal a great deal about the character, motivations, ideas, as well as the military and political judgements of these British individuals, as well as of many others, both British and Greek, with whom they interacted during the Greek War of Independence as well as many of Finlay's other interests, such as Classical and Byzantine history, natural history and politics.
n.d. [1844]. The national assembly. Otho's policy since revolution. George Finlay ridicules Otho, Germans, and Austrians for accepting Fallmerayer's theory ('this balderdash'). Otho's reception of deputies; his only remark 'Has it rained in your provinces?'.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Athens, 4 September 1842. Incomplete.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Athens, 16 December 1843
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Undated.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Undated. Incomplete.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Athens, 11/23 April 1844.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Athens, 10 July 1846.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Athens, 19 July 1846.
Blue cloth, printed.
(1) Sermon occasioned by the lamented death of the late Kirkman Finlay Esq. of Castle Toward [George Finlay's uncle], preached in Toward Chapel on Sabbath, 13 March 1842 by M. A. Mackay, Minister of Dunoon and Kilmun (Glasgow, John Smith and Son, 1842, pp. 1-40).
(2) Report of a public meeting held in Glasgow on 7 December 1842, at which it was resolved to erect a statue to the memory of the late Kirkman Finlay, Esq., of Castle Toward, Glasgow: printed in the Herald Office, pp. 1-20.
(3) loose press cuttings on various Finlays, e.g. 27 May 1873. 78th Foot. Capt. and Brevet Major John Finlay retires from the service, receiving the value of his commission.
Blue paper folder.
Press cuttings from Glasgow Herald, 10 August 1918 and 17 August 1918, and two letters from Alan Wace, 1 September 1918 and 30 September 1918. Wace refers to his letter of 8 August 1918 in The Times Literary Supplement proposing to delete Kirkman Finlay philhellene from the Dictionary of National Biography.
See FIN/A/38 [Q. 9.23] sermon on death of Kirkman Finlay of Castle Toward.
Offprint from Church Quarterly Review, 126 (1938), 68-82, presented by the author, William Miller; Article IV, 'The Centenary of the English Church in Athens'..
17 foolscap sheets, paginated, pp. 1-16. Presented by W. Miller in 1927.
Handwritten copy of correspondence in Liverpool Mail 21 July 1849, vol. 20, no. 1319, 'My Jotting Book. Sketches from Greece' by Tabakraucher [George Finlay].
[This covers a journey from Smyrna to Greece, the condition of Athens, criticism of Elgin's 'robbery' and of the Bavarians.]
Two quarto typewritten obituary notices of George Finlay from The Times, 2 February and 8 February 1875. 2 pp; 3 pp
Loidoriki, 23 July 1835. Took part in General Gordon's expedition against klefts of northern Aetolia and sends notes on itinerary-Chalcis to Martini via the coast, with geographical, topographical, and archaeological details. Copies of inscriptions. Incompetence of the Germans. Caustic criticism of Armansperg; all civil affairs in provinces are in confusion.
Ross to L. Athens, 16/28 October 1835. Acknowledges receipt of L's inscriptions from northern Greece and Thessaly, looks forward to these areas. Grateful for copy of L's topography of Athens. Sends 60 copies of this inscription to London and he would like books in exchange. His excavations on Acropolis; discovery of temple of Victory and of some of Parthenon sculpture. Report of his excavations published in Kunstblatt (1835) and Morgenblatt. Discovery of two Herms on Mount Malevo and ruins of temple of Artemis Limnotis. Sends copy of inscription found at Sparta (1834). WIth old paper enclosure.
Athens, 8 June 1841. Appreciation of L's support for Cretans. Present situation in Crete. English intervention essential.
Printed pamphlet, pp. 1-27.
Funeral Orations pronounced at the Greek cemetery of Athens on 15/27 March 1873, over the tomb of the late General Sir Richard Church by the Hon. P. Chalkiopoulos, Minister of Justice, and Mr John Gennadius, Secretary of the Legation. Athens, Press of the Journal of Debates, 1873.
[Chalkiopoulos's oration was pronounced in Greek but is given here in an English translation by Gennadius.]
William M. Leake to Plato Petrides, 54 Charlotte Street, Portland Place, London. 4 February n.y. Sends P a copy of his reply in Classical Journal to the Revd. Blomfield's criticism of his book in Quarterly Review. Request for geographical information on Corfu, Paxos, and Ste Maura. L's remarks on Korais and problems of modern Greek.
William M. Leake, Thorpe, to P. Petrides. Friday morning, 23 September n.y. Remarks re topography of Peloponnese coast opposite Zante. Request for information about districts of Oleva and Nalla, and the villages of Mount Olovos and about a tablet found at Olympia which speaks of a people (the ΕΥΦΑΘΙΟΙ) who must have been a tribe.
News clipping on 'The State of the Continent', no date. Probably found loose in one of George Finlay's books.
News clipping on 'Lord Broughton's Italy', no date. Probably found loose in one of George Finlay's books.
News clipping on John Ruskin's Stones of Venice, Vol II, The Times, 24 September, 1853. Probably found loose in one of George Finlay's books.
News clipping on 'Wine of the Ancients,' The Athenaeum. Probably found loose in one of George Finlay's books.
Clipping on 'The Periclean age of Grecian Decorative Art' and 'The History of Ecclesiastical Architecture in England,' The Builder, 10 March, 1849. Probably found loose in one of George Finlay's books.
5 cuttings on British Columbia, Palestine, Jerusalem and Istanbul. The Times and other newspapers. 1854-1858. Probably found loose in one of George Finlay's books.
Watercolour painting of corner of ceiling of Mrs Finlay's house, Athens by W. F. Knight, an architect.
(2 pp.) J. R[oberston] to George Finlay. Deplores state of Greece; comments on Lyons's attitude.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Incomplete.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Undated. Incomplete.
Sir Edmund Lyons to George Finlay. Undated. Incomplete.
Athens, 20 October [1847]. This is a first draft of 25 and has been wrongly dated '1844'. It mentions L's Thoughts on the Degradation of Science in England, 1847, and his Peloponnesiaca, 1846.
20 October 1847. Arrival of Middleton; his observations on inscriptions of Mavrodhilissi and site of Amphiaireion; difficulty of visiting this because of bandits in the area 'where I am a landed proprietor'. British policy in Greece even worse since 1843. Defects of constitution of Greece, especially representative chamber and senate. Palmerston's unfortunate policy. Progress of university library; England has done little. Establishment of the French Archaeological School at Athens. Regrets L's Peloponnesiaca has not yet reached him, probably owing to his dispute with the British Consul Green. Is working on Basil II Bulgaroctonus. Penrose's discoveries. Need for scholars to have personal knowledge of Greece; Grote's neglect in this respect.
Athens, 19 June 1848. Bandits near Liossia prevent George Finlay's visit to Mavrodhilissi to copy inscriptions for L. Sends copy of vase-handles; comments on arrowheads found in Cyclades. Approval of Stratford Canning's visit and criticism of Lyons. Failure of British policy in Greece.
Athens, 6 August 1848. Gratitude for L's Peloponnesiaca. Criticism of Consul Green's conduct in connection with bank. Is sending L Sanscrit, translated into Greek. Criticism of Palmerston. Stratford Canning's break with Lyons during his visit to Athens.
Athens, 27 February 1849. Agrees with L on site of Amphiareion. Activity of bandits in Attica. Recall of Lyons and his reactionary and unpopular diplomacy. Comments on Greek political situation and unfortunate state of English consulates in Greece. Criticism of Grote's History; his failure to visit Greece. Wishes to dedicate his History of Greece under the Romans to L. Asks for information on value of Byzantine money.
Athens, 28 January 1850. Wyse's moderation in Don Pacifico and Finlay affairs mistaken by Otho for Palmerston's timidity. Otho refuses to yield and relies on Thouvenel. Terrible snow. Storm and great loss of sheep partly caused by want of cattle sheds and roads. King, government, Bavarians, and Three Powers have disgracefully neglected agriculture which is in a much worse state than in Turkey, though Athens is as civilized as any small European town in Italy or Germany, university respectable, and court balls brilliant though rather disorderly.
Athens, 8 March 1850. Claims to islands off Peloponnese, Sapienza, Cervi, etc., and comments of Palmerston. Greek court hostile to England. Spanish Chargé d'affaires Las Navas and Don Pacifico. George Finlay's own claim. Acknowledges L's Notes on Syracuse.
Athens, 28 March 1850. Thanks L for his letters to English newspapers and on affair of islands [see (30)]. The Times rather severe towards George Finlay and he has sent it a statement of his position; copy enclosed (FIN/GF/B/6, no. 51, 28 March 1850). Hopes for satisfactory settlement of his claim. Criticism of Palmerston's bombastic handling of Pacifico and George Finlay affair. If desired can purchase casts of western frieze of Parthenon for a museum. With note predating Joan Hussey on the placement of two letters from Leake to Finlay, and later writing by Hussey.
Athens, 28 April 1850. Greek government's settlement of indemnity for George Finlay and Don Pacifico. Absurdity of English claims to Sapienza and Cervi. Palmerston's geography as shaky as his statesmanship. Appreciation of L's notes on Syracuse. George Finlay's collection of Greek and Byzantine coins.
Athens, 18 May 1850. Acknowledges L's pamphlet on islands. Comparison of Wyse and Lyons. Renunciation to Bavarian succession to be discussed. Favourable moment for England to intervene. Has finished his work on the Greek nation under Byzantine, Frankish, and Trebizuntine rule. Is going to visit Trebizond and Nicaea and probably Reveniko.
Constantinople, 15 June 1850. Is in process of visiting Thessalonica, Nicaea, Trebizond, and Constantinople. Will arrange to send casts of western frieze of Parthenon to England. Recent conversation with Stratford Canning on Greek political affairs; folly of Lyons's policy in Greece. Sir S. C.'s views reasonable. George Finlay's attempts to give true account of Greek affairs in his Blackwood articles. L's pamphlet on islands translated and published in Athens. George Finlay's satisfaction at treatment of his indemnity claim in both Greek and English presses.
Athens, 28 July 1850. Visit to Trebizond fruitful for both topography and the Chronicle of Panaretos. Further details of arrangements to send casts of western frieze of Parthenon to England (in bad condition, part missing).
Athens, 8 October 1850. Regrets that casts of western frieze of Parthenon have now been purchased by Danish government. Criticism of Palmerston' s policy re islands. Suggests ceding certain islands to Greek government. Corfu, Malta, and Gibraltar ought to send deputies to Imperial parliament. Last four volumes of Grote en route to him. Regrets errors in earlier volumes due to lack of personal knowledge of terrain. Plans for a volume on Greece 1204-1566 with Trebizond; would supplement Gibbon. Assassination of Korphiotakis; nomination of Mavrocordatos, Metaxas, and Tricoupis as ambassadors to Paris, Constantinople, and London respectively. Criticism of Tricoupis as 'greedy miserable time server'.
Athens, 18 December 1850. A 10-drachma piece of old Athenian type is for sale. Is sending a cast to L as British Museum might wish to purchase. Desire to dedicate his history of period from 1204 to 1566 to L and suggests form of wording. Information on population of Greece and Ionian islands; marked lack of public works, roads, or any attempt to foster agriculture and commerce; heavy taxation. Comments on topography of Battle of Pharsala; criticism of views of Merivale. Grote's history has 'a very scholastic air but I like his Athenian politics better than those of any of his predecessors. I am afraid however that Cleon was no better than Colletti (sic)'. Comments on Turkish political situation.
Athens, 28 February 1851. Has not so far found rare and unpublished types of coins for sale, but is on alert and has enlisted aid of von Prokesch-Osten who has an excellent collection of Athenian coins. Details of George Finlay's coins and manubria. Praises L's Travels in Northern Greece as 'the geographical monument of our century'. Is authorized to purchase decadrachm for 1,000 fr. if genuine. Disgraceful state of English consular department. Has obtained complete copy of archaeological journal of Athens.
Athens, 28 March 1851. Sends copies of inscriptions collated by George Finlay and Mr. Chrysides. Damage done by government to current trade and silk production. Students attack American missionary Mr. King after his service and sermon in Greek. Bigots had used discussions in the Senate on Kaïris to excite the passions of the theologians.
Athens, 27 April 1851. Reference to Ross's paper on temple of Theseus, and to Pittakis's siting of the Metroon. Pittakis's discovery of inscriptions concerning Bouleuterion. P's reluctance to allow copies to be made before he has published them.
Athens, 8 May 1851. Letter enclosed for Athenaeum containing all that George Finlay has been able to gather about Pittakis' recent find of inscriptions. Impossible to get any leading Greek paper to publish a translation of L's Greece. Psyllas who is an honest politician may print it as a separate pamphlet (end missing; mutilated).
Athens, 17 December 1851. George Finlay's experiences in Florence and Rome. L's memoir on Pharsala presented to Mr. Wyse, Mr. Lyons, and garrison library at Malta. Comments on Minerva Medica of the Justiniani collection in Vatican. Is copying his Byzantine history from 716 to 1204 and then to 1453; will need at least 2 volumes if 'Franks are to be given a correct idea of Byzantine Society and Government'. Is having it printed at own expense.
Leake to George Finlay. Queen Anne St., London, 2 January 1852. Sends maps missing from George Finlay's copy of L's paper on Pharsala. Comments on George Finlay's experiences in the medal room at Florence; considers the missing grandis massa was never there 'for Reiske is no great authority'. The coup d'etat in Paris.