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George Finlay in Perspective—A Centenary Reappraisal1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

Extract

George Finlay died at the age of seventy-five on 24 January a hundred years ago and I am honoured to pay tribute to this distinguished Scottish scholar and philhellene on the occasion of his centenary. It is indeed fitting that this should take place in the School which possesses many of his books and papers.

It might well be asked why there has as yet—to the best of my knowledge—been no full biography of Finlay. A glance at the available material may suggest the answer. What are usually known as the Finlay Papers housed in the British School comprise a formidable collection. Perhaps the best-known items are the so-called Journals. They are in part genuine journals in the sense of a day to day record, particularly of Finlay's experiences when travelling round the Aegean, or in Turkey, or on a visit to Scotland, journeying via Malta and France or Switzerland.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1975

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References

2 A summary of the contents may be found in Hussey, J. M., The Finlay Papers (BSA Supplementary Volume No. 9, London, 1973, henceforth referred to as Papers).Google Scholar

3 See Papers, 56–69 (B. 1–3).

4 Ibid. 69–73 (B. 4).

5 Ibid. 75–93 (B. 6).

6 Ibid. 45–56 (A. 42) and 94–100 (B. 7).

7 For this reason the letters are in fact not at present available for general consultation; see Papers, vi.

8 Wace, A. J. B., ‘A British Officer on active service, 1799’. BSA xxiii (19181819) 126–38.Google Scholar

9 Ibid. ‘Hastings and Finlay’, BSA xxii (1916–17, 1917–18) 110–32.

10 Miller, W., “The Finlay Papers’, EHR xxxix (1924) 386–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar; ‘George Finlay as journalist’, ibid. 552–67; ‘The Finlay Library’, BSA xxvi (1923–5) 46–66; ‘The Journals of Finlay and Jarvis’, EHR xli (1926) 514–25.

11 W. Miller, ‘The Finlay Papers’, op. cit. 397.

12 Cf. J. Irmscher, Der Philhellenismus in Preussen als Forschungsanliegen (SB. Deutsche Ak. der Wiss. zu Berlin, Kl. für Sprachen, Lit. und Kunst, Jahrgang 1966, Nrl. 2).

13 Glasgow, E., ‘A Centenary Tribute to George FinlayGreek Gazette (January, 1975) 1.Google Scholar

14 ‘Hastings and Finlay’, op. cit. 127–8.

15 History of Greece, ed. Tozer, H. F. (Oxford, 1877), xxxix–xlvi.Google Scholar

16 ‘Hastings and Finlay’, op. cit. 127.

17 History, op. cit. II 322.

18 Cf. ibid. I 214 ff.

19 Cf. History I xlv.

20 Cf. ibid. III 276 and passim.

21 Cf. Freeman, E. A., Historical Essays, 2nd ser., 2nd edn. (London, 1880) 126.Google Scholar

22 Momigliano, A., ‘George Grote and the Study of Greek History’, in Studies in Historiography (London, 1966) 65.Google Scholar

23 History III 283.

24 Wells' Journal, 25 April 1872.

25 Howe, S. G., Letters and Journals, ed. Richards, L. E. (Boston, Mass., 1906) I 349.Google Scholar