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.

Letters loose mostly from George Finlay to William M. Leake. See also George Finlay's copy of John Howard Marsden's Memoir of Leake with letters bound in (FIN/GF/A/42.).

George Finlay's own library is at present split: certain works have been placed in the main library of the British School at Athens and the rest are housed (together with a number of modern works) in the students' common room or in the archive room. Items in this section can be identified only by the title of the book and the shelf-mark and as far as possible they are arranged here chronologically. 'George Finlay' after the present shelf-mark indicates that the book has not been transferred to the main library. This is an interim report: the collection is so widely dispersed and neither this nor the School Library has yet been professionally catalogued so that it is possible that some letters in books may have been overlooked.
The library shelf numbers of the books where the items were found are listed in the 'Library Shelf Number' field.
Please note that Joan Hussey listed the letters in chronological order in the FIN/GF/B/09 series. This means that letters with different dates but found in the same book can appear separately in the series.

Black folder, leather spine tied top, bottom, and side, 'George Finlay' in gilt on front cover, some loose sheets. The A-E categories below have been copied from the type-written sheets in the folder.
The records in Folder A (FIN/GF/A/21/1 - FIN/GF/A/21/7) are miscellaneous papers.
The records in Folder B (FIN/GF/A/21/8 - FIN/GF/A/21/15) are passports.
The records in Folder C (FIN/GF/A/21/16 - FIN/GF/A/21/32) are diplomas, honours conferred, etc.
The records in Folder D (FIN/GF/A/21/33 - FIN/GF/A/21/40) are miscellaneous correspondence.
The records in Folder E (FIN/GF/A/21/41) are miscellaneous photographs There is a miscellaneous newspaper clipping at the end (FIN/GF/A/21/42)

The collection contains John Finlay, Frank Hastings and George Jarvis’ personal papers as well as those of George Finlay, although George Finlay’s papers form the bulk of the collection.

The collection includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, commonplace books, catalogues of books, journals, drafts of Finlay’s History of the Greece, a sketchbook, log books, commonplace books and account books. Many of the letters are pasted or copied by Finlay into letter books. These records give an overview of the Greek War of Independence and especially the role of the British philhellenes, as well as many of Finlay's other interests, such as Classical and Byzantine history, natural history and politics. Finlay had a wide range of correspondents, both Greek and British.

The collection also contains the personal papers of Frank Abney Hastings, with Hastings' naval involvement in Greece heavily represented.

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.