James Monteith (1831–1890) was an American author of widely published geography textbooks in the nineteenth century. Monteith was born in Strabane, Ireland, immigrated to the United States as a child, and lived his whole life in New York City. Monteith taught for many years in New York's public school system, eventually becoming the headmaster of a Ward School 17 (later P.S. 18) at 211 West 47th St. Monteith began publishing textbooks on geography and history in the 1850s, initially collaborating with Francis McNally, who was a fellow New York public school teacher and mentor to Monteith until his death in 1855. Monteith's influences included Alexander K. Johnston, Arnold Guyot, Matthew Fontaine Maury, and Emma Hart Willard.

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