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.
The King's Commissions of John Finlay Gent. for various positions in the Army
30 January 1770. Lieutenant with Glasgow Regiment of Foot.
28 June 1786. Paymaster of Works at Fort George in Scotland.
28 June 1786. Storekeeper at Fort George in Scotland.
27 April 1787. Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers.
1 January 1789. Inspector of the Royal Manufacturers of Gunpowder.
12 June 1790. First Lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Engineers.
1 May 1794. Captain in the Army.
2 July 1794. Captain Commandant of the Volunteer Companies in the Royal Powder Mills at Faversham and Waltham Abbey.
31 December 1795. Captain Lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Engineers.
5 December 1798. Major Commandant of the Volunteer Companies in the Royal Powder Mills at Faversham and Waltham Abbey.
Brown mottle, brown calf spine, leather corners; handwritten, unpaginated, 'Tacitus' pasted on spine, bound with a few loose cuttings.
'The Life of Julius Agricola by C. Cornelius Tacitus, Translated.' Written in copperplate hand with some pencil corrections, and a few random notes on Balkans, Austria, and Prussia in George Finlay's hand.
Black cloth, bound, paginated, gilt lettering on spine: Greece under the Romans.
G. Finlay, History of Greece under Foreign Domination, in five volumes, vol. i, Greece under the Romans, 2nd edn. (Blackwood, London, 1857), pp. i-xxxiv, 1-580.
Page proofs corrected by George Finlay mounted on blue sheets and his addenda and corrigenda mostly bound up with the page proofs; some loose sheets and cuttings.
See also FIN/GF/C/17 [Q. 9. 2] for printed appendices to second edition (Belisarius, Money, Holy Sepulchre).
Black cloth, bound, gilt lettering on spine: 'History of the Byzantine Empire, vol. I A.D. 816 (sic)-1057'.
G. Finlay, History of the Byzantine Empire from DCCXVI to MLVII; 2nd edn. (London and Edinburgh, 1856), pp. i-xii, 1-542.
Page proofs corrected by George Finlay and mounted on blue sheets with his addenda and corrigenda; there are also a few loose sheets with George Finlay's historical notes.
Black cloth, bound, gilt lettering on spine: 'History of the Byzantine Empire, vol. II, A.D. 1057-1453'.
G. Finlay, History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires from DCCXVI to MCCCLIII, in two volumes, vol. ii (Blackwood, Edinburgh and London, 1854). Interleaved as D. 3 with addenda and corrigenda; a few loose sheets with George Finlay's historical notes.
Brown mottle with calf spine, pp. 1-221+index sheets A-W, handwritten, bound, 'Varieties' pasted on spine, paginated. Indexed alphabetically by George Finlay.
Various notes mostly on Greece or the Byzantines. Heading on p. 197 'Works illustrating the period of my first volume' is left blank.
Dark-green cloth, gilt lettering on spine: 'Medieval Greece and Trebizond. G. Finlay', bound.
G. Finlay, History of Greece from its Conquest by the Crusaders to its Conquest by the Turks and of the Empire of Trebizond 1204-1461 (Edinburgh and London, 1851), pp. i-xiv, 1-519.
Interleaved with addenda and corrigenda. A few loose sheets with notes.
Dark-blue cloth, black calf spine (broken), printed. Three printed works of George Finlay bound together with a few corrigenda in text in his hand.
(1) 'Observations on the characteristic features of Byzantine history' [from the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, iv, N.S.], pp. 1-64, date at end: Athens, 27 March 1851.
(2) The Last Pages of the History of the Last Greek Republic, Malta. Printed at the British Press. Read on the evening commencing the session 1852-3 at Literary and Scientific Institute of Malta, pp. 1-17, preface dated 1 January 1853.
(3) 'Observations on the causes of the rapid conquests of the Ottoman Turks in Europe' [from the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, v, N.s.], pp. 1-21, n.d.
Dark-green cloth, printed. Duplicate of item (1) in FIN/GF/D/7 with ink corrigenda and addenda in George Finlay's hand, pp. 1-64.
Blue mottle boards, brown calf spine, 'Byzantine History M.S.' in gilt on spine, handwritten, bound, paginated pp. 1-130.
Translations from Byzantine authors, with some comments by George Finlay. Contents listed by George Finlay at beginning of book as follows:
Memorial of the Athenians (by Michael Akominatos) to the emperor Alexius III (from Tafel's Thessalonica)
Extract relating to Athens [from Tafel, op. cit., p. 459]
Leo Diaconus. Extracts from his history which relate to the Bulgarian and Russian wars during the reigns of Nicephorus II, John I and Basil II
Fragments relating to the conquest of the Tauric Chersonnesus by the Russians from the notes of Hases's ed. of Leo Diaconus (p. 254, ed. Paris)
Fragments of a discourse by Theodoulos Magister concerning the incursions of the Catalans and Turks (Anecdota Graeca, ed. Boissonade, ii, p. 219)
Discourse on behalf of Chandrenos addressed to the emperor Andronicus II
Extracts from the Book of Accounts or Tax register called, of Augustus Caesar
Extracts from the New Book of Accounts or Tax register of the emperor Alexius I (Montfaucon, Analecta Graeca, p. 369)
Note explanatory of the two last articles and particularly of the tax register of Alexius I (Zonaras, ii, p. 298, ed. Paris)
The Charter under the golden seal or Golden Bull of the emperor Alexius I granting the island of Patmos to the monk Christodoulos, and relating to the privileges conceded to the monastery of St. John to be founded in the said island translated from the original given by Dr Ross in his Reisen auf den griechischen Inseln, II. Band [pp. 119-85]
Brown mottle, dark-brown calf spine, 'Byzantine History' pasted on spine, handwritten, paginated by George Finlay pp. 1-73 (the rest is blank), bound.
Translations from Byzantine authors. Listed by George Finlay as follows:
Extracts from Nicetas relating to the taking of Constantinople by the Crusaders Reign of Alexius III, Book 3, section 9
Second reign of Isaac II and his son Alexius IV
Reign of Alexius V Murzuphlos
Events after the taking of Constantinople during the reign of Baldwin (in Greece)
Names of officers at the Byzantine Court
Fragment concerning the foundation of Monemvasia and the establishment of the Sclavonians in the Peloponnesus (transl. from Tafel, Symbolarum criticarum geographiam Byzantinam spectantes partes duae, Pars I, p. 58)
Memorial of George Gemistos Plethon to the Emperor Manuel II concerning the state of the Peloponnesus [this item is unfinished]
See also FIN/GF/C/11 [R. 9. 8], item 13, translation of Cameniates on the taking of Thessalonica by the Saracens, and FIN/GF/E/40 [R. 8. 28], p. 94, extracts from Cedrenus.
Black cloth with black calf spine worn off, handwritten, paginated by George Finlay pp. 1-158, the rest blank, bound.
Translations
(1) The annals of George Phrantzes protovestarius [= pp. 1-137, pp. 138-45 are blank].
(2) An Account of the Last taking of Thessalonica by John Anagnostes briefly composed at the request of a noble friend [pp. 146-58].
The rest of the book is blank and unpaginated.
Red mottle boards, green suede spine much worn, indexed alphabetically and each letter of the alphabet paginated separately, handwritten, printed lettering stuck on spine: 'Topography. History. Literature', bound.
Topographical and Historical Notes: many on the islands especially Cyclades giving references (mostly to medieval period).
Information listed alphabetically with further subject headings at end: Geographical works; Topography and Walls of Constantinople; Characters; Books; Turkey; Literary.
A few random notes, mostly bibliographical, on Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Greece. Large amount of loose notes and clippings.
Manuscript notes. Miscellaneous, mostly on Byzantine Greece.
Black cloth, black calf spine, printed.
(1) G. Finlay, On the Site of the Holy Sepulchre with a Plan of Jerusalem (London, Smith Elder and Co., 1847), pp. 1-48 (with George Finlay's ink corrigenda).
(2) A. Schaffter, Die ãchte Lage des heiligen Grabes . . . (Bern, 1849), pp. i-x, 1-93.
(3) Letters stuck in at back:
1. John Evans to George Finlay. Malta, 15 March n.y.
To introduce Mr. Dickson who intends to visit Athens. Appreciation of George Finlay's historical work. 2 p.
2. N. Dragoumis to George Finlay. n.d.
Appreciation of George Finlay's work on site of Holy Sepulchre. 2 pp.
(4) Loose cutting, review of T. Lewin, Jerusalem, in The Critic, 28 December 1861.
(5) Two plans of Jerusalem (loose).
Unbound notes and papers. Notres on Byzantine Greece, Saracen conquests, Ottoman empire, blindness of Belisarius.
Large quarto, 'carbon' copy, pp. 1-6 [S. 9. 7]. 'Appendix I. Note on the blindness of Belisarius.'
Large quarto, 'carbon' copy in George Finlay's hand, pp. 96-134+4 unpaginated sheets. [R. 8. 17]. 'The history of conquests of the Saracens.' Six lectures delivered before the Edinburgh Philosophical Institution by Edward A. Freeman.
Large quarto, 'carbon' copy in George Finlay's hand, unpaginated. 'Observations on the ancient history of the Turkish nation and on the earliest political institutions of the Ottoman empire.'
Black cloth, bound, lettering on spine 'Greek Revolution 1.', handwritten, paginated pp. 1-219.
George Finlay's MS. draft of his History of the Greek Revolution.
Black cloth, bound, lettering on spine 'Greek Revolution 1821-1843', handwritten, paginated in part only, 406-700 (= part of a 'carbon' copy book of transfer paper).
George Finlay's MS. draft of his History of the Greek Revolution.
Black cloth, bound, lettering on spine 'History of the Greek Revolution Book X 4-5', handwritten, paginated i-ix, 1-424, followed by transfer paper paginated 551-65, 924-36.
George Finlay's MS. draft of his History of the Greek Revolution.
A letter loose at p. 129, in French. Myhrberg to Col. Th. Gordon. Affairs of Piraeus; defeat of Church. [Note by George Finlay on letter: '27 April/9 May 1827. Account of the battle of Cape Colias by a Philhellene who escaped. I think it was written by Myhrberg and addressed to Gordon but cannot recollect how it came into my possession. See Gordon, History, ii. 471'.] 4 pp.
Black cloth, handwritten, bound, gilt lettering on spine 'History of the Greek Revolution. Supplementary chapter 1844-1864', paginated by George Finlay, I-II, 1-209. A supplementary chapter to George Finlay's History of the Greek Revolution, with Appendix. 'Constitution of Greece 1864', pp. 191-209+loose press cuttings from Allgemeine Zeitung,
14 August and 26 August 1855.
Dated (p. 190) Athens, May 1866.
Letter: W. Stuart to George Finlay. 17 March 1872. Re loan of George Finlay's 'Supplementary Chapter' [1844-64]; and the other two volumes of the History of the Greek Revolution (stuck on front flyleaf, 2 pp.).
Paginated, large quarto, handwritten, unbound. Miscellaneous notes
Athens 27 May 1854 Memorandum ('carbon' copy, pp. 1-8).
Carbon' copy entitled 'Brigandage in Greece', pp. 1-4.
Memorandum and Supplementary Chapter on the Government of Otto and Revolution of 1862', 9 loose sheets+pp. 1, 3, 4.
Quarto, unbound, handwritten. Notes on Greek affairs.
Historical Sketches of the Albanians, the Modern Greeks and the Greek Revolution by An Observer.' 'Carbon' copy, paginated by George Finlay i-xx. This appears to be a plan (chapter and section headings) for a work on the Greek Revolution though it is not identical with any of the printed volumes. It also contains (pp. xv-xx) a Preface which does not appear in the printed volumes of 1861.
Observations on the reform of the Greek Ministry of the Marine. Athens 6 February 1855' (pp. 1-14, with notes on pp. 15-17).
Observations on the condition of Greece in 1854', 'carbon' copy (pp. 1-31).
The 'top' copy of (c) but with the author's corrections and amendments (pp. 1-31).
Blue mottle board, faded cloth spine, gilt lettering on spine 'Greek Documents from 1821', bound, unpaginated. This contains documents, notes, and letters all loose. George Finlay never pasted up any of these and they have been placed in a separate green manilla folder 26 X 37 cm
(1) Nikolaos Laspas, Secretary (grammatikos). Ioannina, 29 April 1821.
Circular to Greek captains re Sultan's order (firman) punishing Greek population for revolutionary activities (in Greek). 2 pp.
(2) Patriarch Gregory of Constantinople. 1821.
Excommunicates Michael Soutso and Alexander Ipsilantis and condemns Greek revolution; appreciation of Turkish privileges to Greek population (in Greek). 6 pp.
(3) E. Trelawny to George Finlay. The Cavern of Ulysses, Mount Parnassus, 27 May 1824.
T's arrival at Parnassus with supplies for Odysseus. Criticism of Mavrocordatos and his activities at Mesolonghi. Mention of Fenton, Byron, Gordon, Millingen. 4 pp.
(4) S. G. Howe to George Finlay. 6/18 December 1829.
Discusses mutual plans. Comments on Capodistrias's policy. 3 pp.
(5) E. Trelawny to George Finlay. n.d.
To arrange to meet George Finlay. 1 p.
(6) E. Trelawny to George Finlay. Argos, 1824.
Comments on arrival of Colocotronis and Mavrocordatos. Invites George Finlay to visit Fenton on Parnassus. 2 pp.
(7) Col. Fabvier to Capt. F. A. Hastings. Ambelakia, 23 October 1826. Regrets inability to supply H with men and money (in French). 1 p.
(8) Col. Heideck to F. A. Hastings [1826].
Heideck's project for defence of Athens; need to cut off Turkish supplies from Euboia; Greek control of sea essential (in French). 1 p.
(9) J. C. Hobhouse to F. A. Hastings. London, 12 December 1826.
Promises support. False accusations against members of Greek committee by ex deputies Orlando and Luriotis. Dispatch of assistance to Greece. Cochrane's plans. 4 pp.
(10) Capt. T. Sackville Crosbie. Enterprise, Plymouth Sound, 22 April 1827. Reports on state of his ship Enterprise. 3 pp.
(11) T. Gordon to Capt. F. A. Hastings (of the Karteria). Cairness, 18 November 1827. Appreciation of Hastings's military qualities and activities. Satisfaction at Battle of Navarino. G regrets having left Greece. 3 pp.
(12) Col. T. Gordon to Capt. F. A. Hastings. n.d. Memorandum on Phaleron expedition. 2 pp.
(13) n.d.
Notes (or extracts from a letter) on activities of Odysseus. 1 p.
(14) n.d.
Notes on treacherous activities of Odysseus. 1 p.
(15) Mytica, 30 September 1828 and 4 October 1828. Reports on entrance of Gulf of Preveza. 2 pp.
(16) Odessa, 25/27 October 1828.
'Extracts.' A report on blockade of Varna and position of Russian army. 3 pp.
(17) S. G. Howe to George Finlay. Egina, 4 December 1828.
Topographical and archaeological information on Tomb of Agamemnon at Mycenae and other Mycenaean ruins in Argolis. Political events at Poros; Capodistrias's unfair policy. Comments on Cochrane's retention of Hastings's property. 2 pp.
(18) S. G. Howe to George Finlay. Egina, 5 January 1829.
Offers George Finlay hospitality in Egina until his house there is free; suggestions for improving port of Egina. 3 pp.
(19) J. Hane to George Finlay, Egina. Vaffé, 15/27 March 1829.
Anarchy in Crete and situation of Candia; his acceptance of the Presidency of the Cretan symboulion [in place of Rheineck, who was recalled by the Greek government]. 2 pp.
(20) J. Cartwright to George Finlay. H.M. Rifleman, off Tenedos, 14 June 1829.
Invitation to visit him in Constantinople. Comments on Capodistrias's role in Greek affairs. 4 pp.
(21) K. Kyrouras (?). 14 June 1829.
Description of Turkish attack on Greeks at Anephoriti (?) (in Greek). 2 pp.
(22) (Sent to George Finlay) June 1829.
Instructions given by electors of Corinth to their deputies, said to have been written by Capodistrias (in Greek). 2 pp.
(23) June 1829.
Note by Fridericus Bialloblotzky on German colonists in Greece (in Latin). 1 p.
(24) G. Lee to George Finlay. Argos, 12 August 1829.
c/o J. Cartwright, H.B.M.'s Consul-General, Constantinople.
Details of Greek Assembly and Senate; Capodistrias's salary; new Greek coinage. Personal news of philhellenes. George Finlay's house during his absence. 3 pp.
(25) S. G. Howe to George Finlay, Egina. Isthmos, 10/22 November 1829.
Discusses Greek political situation and Capodistrias. Difficulties of the 'colony'. 4 pp.
(26) S. G. Howe to George Finlay. Isthmos of Corinth, 25 November 1829.
Offers George Finlay superintendency and administration of 'colony' and property at Corinth; optimism re future revenues of estate. [In March 1829 Capodistrias had granted Howe land at the Hexamilion near Corinth, in order to found a settlement for refugee Greeks.] 3 pp.
(27) S. G. Howe to George Finlay, Athens. Isthmos, 14 December 1829.
Account of plundering activities of pallicaria in Roumeli. H's measures to protect colony's estate from irregular troops. 3 pp.
(28) S. G. Howe to George Finlay, Egina. Nauplion, 20 December 1829.
Re affairs of colony; needs priest and schoolmaster; present disorders; public criticism of Capodistrias. 3 pp.
(29) S. G. Howe to George Finlay, Egina. Isthmos, 15 January 1830. Near disaster off Salamis. Activity of pallicaria. 2 pp.
(30) 9 April 1830.
Views of senator Tatzi Manginas on Greek national policy (in Greek). 3 pp.
(31) Nauplion, 10/22 April 1830.
Reply of Greek Senate to Capodistrias's communication re protocol of 3 February 1830 (in Greek). 8 pp.
(32) Clonaris to Col. T. Gordon. Argos, 28 April/4 May 1831.
Political situation in Greece; activities of Maniates; restriction on liberty of press; position of islands; Mavrocordatos at Hydra; Zaimes's submission to Capodistrias (in French). 4 pp.
(33) 10 May 1830.
Congratulations to Prince Leopold from Chiots at Syra (in Greek). 2 pp.
(34) B. Chales, A. Manoussayiannes, and G.Tsouderos to Capt. Perronel, 14 May 1830.
Answer of Cretan chiefs to Perrone! expressing their faith in Cretan cause and decision to fight for liberty (in Greek). 3 pp.
(35) S. G. Howe to George Finlay, Liverpool. Boston, 13June 1831.
Requests information on Greece and 'colony'. Rejoices in Capodistrias's fall. He is now editor of new daily paper in Philadelphia; political situation in the U.S.A. 4 pp.
(36) Athens, 14 May 1854.
Statement of king of Greece confirming Greek neutrality towards Turkey. Sir Thomas Wyse's reply (in French). 1 p.
(37) G. Gropius's memorandum on new monetary system for Greece (in French). 3 pp.
(38) n.d.
Approximate calculation of Greek revenues (in French). 3 pp.
(39) George Finlay's jottings on various offences committed against Greece, 'Greece, July 1831'.
Yellow-brown mottle board, bound, calf spine, 'Middleton and Napier' pasted on spine, paginated, handwritten with printed newspaper-cuttings pasted up but not bound in.
George Finlay's note on front flyleaf.
'These letters were given me by Mr. George Brown of London, a friend of Lord Cochrane, in 1826.
The memorandum of a plan of campaign in the Peloponnesus was written for me by Colonel Charles Napier, C.B. in the quarantine at Ancona the same year.'
Two letters from R. D. Middleton, Master of the Maria:
(1) Account of the Egyptian Expedition against the Morea to 26 September 1824, written from Bodrum, 26 September 1824, to Joseph Lachlan, pp. 1-60.
(2) Egyptian Expedition till 25 November 1824, written from Marmarice 25 November 1824 to Joseph Lachlan, pp. 1-14.
(3) 'On Monembasia as the base of military operations Colonel Napier.' Memorandum, pp. 1-6+map of Peloponnesus and position of troops, pp. 7-8. [Printed in George Finlay, History of the Greek Revolution, vol. 11, pp. 390-2, London, 1861.]
(4) Cutting of printed review of Life . . . of General Sir Charles James Napier by W. Napier, from The Times 8 April and 10 April 1857.
Paper covers, bound, printed, mostly uncut.
List of Treaties etc., vol. iv (in English and French), n.d., on Greek Affairs 4 April 1826--30 April 1833 (see Index under Bavaria, Great Britain, and Greece).
Grey mottle board, red leather spine and corners, 'Miscellaneous' pasted on spine, bound, handwritten, paginated by George Finlay, pp. 1-132 (+about 60 pp. blank).
Various Greek Memoranda 1822-43.
Contents listed by George Finlay as follows:
Three letters addressed to the Athena a Greek newspaper published at Nauplia in 1833
Memoir read in the Society of Natural History at Athens giving an account of my discovery of a deposit of fossil bones at Pikermi 13 Decr 1836
Memorandum 22 Decr 1836
Memorial presented to the King of Greece 15 March 1836
Reflections on reading Aristotle's Politics
On the condition and prospects of Greece. I think this was never printed in this form.
Petition to H.M. the King of Greece on the subject of the tenths as the land tax
Memorandum of an article written for the Athena 6/18 Sept. 1838
Draft of Petition for a Bank circulated among the landed proprietors of Attica and Euboea 7 July 1837
Extract of a letter which appeared in the Morning Chronicle Nov 1839
Memorandum on the state of Education in Greece
Note on the modern Greek language by Revd H. D. Leeves
Anecdote illustrating the condition of the Greeks in Turkey
Translation of Hattisheriff read on the appointment of Grand Vizier 12 Nov 1822
Translation of writing placed on the corpse of Kurkor Duzoghlou 16 Oct 1829
Paper circulated through Greece by Lord Stranord George Finlay on his return from the Congress of Verona in 1823
Letter of Lord StranGeorge Finlayord to the Patriarch on Ionian church
Answer of Patriarch 23 FebY 1823
Patriarchal and Synodical Epistle for the consecration of Archbishops and Bishops
in the Septinsular Ionian States Feby 1823
Act of the Greek people offering to place themselves under the protection of Great Britain
Correspondence relating to the appointment of the Revd H. D. Leeves as Chaplain to the British Legation in Greece 1843
Translation of a letter by the Duchess of Plaisance relating to her donations of money to the Mavromichales family and Mr Tricoupes
Revenue and Expenditure- Greece and England
Loose cuttings, handwritten notes and letters. With paper enclosure by Joan Hussey.
Cuttings on various topics from The Times and Globe and other papers.