Montague, Gilbert Holland, 1880-1961

Gilbert Holland Montague (1880-1961) was an American lawyer and autograph collector.

Montague earned his Harvard AB in 1901, his Harvard AM in 1902, and his Harvard LLB in 1904.

Gilbert Holland Montague was born in 1880 in Springfield, Massachusetts. After receiving degrees from Harvard in economics and law Montague became a foremost practitioner of antitrust law. Montague authored many journal articles on business law and two books: Rise and Progress of the Standard Oil Company (1903) and Business Competition and the Law (1917). In addition to his legal work Montague was a lifelong collector of manuscripts and rare books. His collection consisted of over 15,000 books, 20,000 pamphlets and included a 14th century copy of the Magna Carta.

Montague was a relative of Emily Dickinson and amassed a collection of over 900 of her items. His Dickinson collection was donated to Harvard in 1950. Also in 1950, Montague purchased and donated his collection of Fultoniana to The New York Public Library for exhibition. After his death in 1961 the remainder of Montague's autograph collection was transferred to the New York Public Library.