Grant Gilmore (1910 – 1982) was an American law professor who taught at

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, the

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, the College of Law (now

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) at the

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, and

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. He was a scholar of commercial law and one of the principal drafters of the

Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of Uniform Acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through U ...

. Gilmore attended Boston Latin School and then went on to

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, where he earned a PhD in

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. Prior to his career in law, he taught French at Yale University. He authored a number of books on various areas of commercial law, including secured transactions, admiralty law, and

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

law, and also drafted Article Nine of the Uniform Commercial Code. Perhaps his most famous work is his survey and criticism of contract law, '' The Death of Contract''. Gilmore is also known for his quote:

Law reflects, but in no sense determines the moral worth of a society…. The better the society, the less law there will be. In Heaven, there will be no law, and the lion will lie down with the lamb…. The worse the society, the more law there will be. In Hell, there will be nothing but law, and due process will be meticulously observed.

Selected publications

*Gilmore, Grant. ''Security Interests in Personal Property'' (2 Volumes). 1st edition, Little, Brown & Company, 1965; 2nd edition, The Lawbook Exchange, 1999. *Gilmore, Grant. ''The Death of Contract''. The Ohio State University Press, 1974, 2nd edition 1995, Ronald K.L. Collins, editor: *Gilmore, Grant & Black, Charles. ''The Law of Admiralty''. Foundation Press, 1975. OCLC 1228473. * (second edition, with new foreword and final chapter by Philip Bobbitt, Yale University Press, 2014. )

References

External links

Article on Gilmore's book ''Security Interests in Personal Property''
from

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, 12 January 1968
A reproduction of the announcement of Grant Gilmore's memorial service
from the

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Finding aid for Grant Gilmore, Papers
Harvard Law School Library 1910 births 1982 deaths American legal scholars American legal writers Boston Latin School alumni Yale University alumni Yale Law School faculty Scholars of contract law University of Chicago Law School faculty Yale Sterling Professors 20th-century American non-fiction writers {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub