George Finlay papers
| Department | Archive |
|---|---|
| Collection | George Finlay Papers |
| Reference No. | FIN |
| Level | Sub Fond |
| Dates | 1791-1949 |
| Donor/Creator |
Finlay, George |
| Scope and Content | 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. |
| 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. |
| Further information | 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. |