HISTORY FROM THE MARGINS: GEORGE FINLAY, GEORGE BANCROFT AND THE GENESIS OF NATIONAL HISTORY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

The writings of George Finlay are usually viewed through the lenses of philhellenism and the Greek Revolution. This work seeks instead to locate them in the transnational intellectual canvas of the nineteenth century, principally in relation to the writings of George Bancroft, in whose History of the United States Finlay left extensive marginalia. Finlay's comments on Bancroft's work exemplify two disparate styles of historiography in the period. This study attributes such a divide to Finlay's and Bancroft's divergent worldviews, conflicting methodologies and contrasting motivations as historians working on either side of the Atlantic in the Age of Revolutions. The analysis of the dialogical exchange between the two scholars has much to contribute towards a global history of historical thought during a liminal period for history as a discipline. Finlay's annotations offer much for our understanding of Bancroft's reception outside of the United States, especially in ‘peripheral’ regions like the Eastern Mediterranean that are often overlooked when studying intellectual exchanges between Europe and America. Further, owing to the connection that he draws between national institutions and the writing of history, Finlay's marginalia give a clear indication of his vision for the optimal socio-political organisation of post-revolutionary states like the United States and the Kingdom of Greece. In this article, I suggest that Finlay's work was thus essentially didactic in contrast to Bancroft's teleological method of historical enquiry, giving greater insight into the different methods and purposes of historical writing in the nineteenth century.