Edgar Johnson
Edgar Johnson was a prominent American academic and biographer born in Brooklyn, New York, around the early 1900s. He graduated with honors from Columbia University and dedicated over forty years to the City College of the City University of New York, where he eventually became the chair of the English department and earned the title of Distinguished Professor of English. Johnson also held visiting professorships at various prestigious universities, including the University of Hawaii and the University of Chicago. He gained widespread recognition for his biography "Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph," published in 1952, which is celebrated for its comprehensive detail and literary analysis. Following this success, he authored "Sir Walter Scott: The Great Unknown," which garnered him the first American Heritage biography prize in 1969. Besides his biographical work, Johnson contributed to the literary field through editing projects and novels. Throughout his life, he received numerous accolades, including fellowships and international honors, and actively participated in the PEN American Center, serving in various leadership roles. Edgar Johnson passed away in 1995 at the age of ninety-three, leaving behind a notable legacy in literary scholarship.
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Subject Terms
Edgar Johnson
Writer
- Born: December 1, 1901
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
- Died: April 26, 1995
- Place of death: Albany, New York
Biography
Edgar Johnson was born at the onset of the twentieth century in Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from Columbia University with honors, he spent separate teaching stints at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and Hunter College in New York City before joining the City College of the City University of New York in 1927. His role in the academic community remained fairly steady there. He advanced to chair the English department and earn the title of Distinguished Professor of English in his tenure of more than four decades at the City College. Although he resided predominantly in New York, Johnson took several visiting professorships on occasion across the United States. He taught at the University of Hawaii, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Chicago, among others.
After editing collections of Charles Dickens’s letters, Edgar Johnson earned widespread acclaim for his 1952 biography Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph. Despite its immense length, the book was considered the most distinctive and thorough Dickens biography of its time; it offers not only an in- depth biography but also deep literary analysis and criticism. Considering its audience, the more than 250,000 copies sold stand as a true testament to Johnson’s dedication to detail.
Johnson followed this book with his seventy-eight-chapter masterpiece, Sir Walter Scott: The Great Unknown. This work took him nearly twelve years to research and another several to compile. It earned Johnson the first American Heritage biography prize in 1969, valued at twenty thousand dollars. Some of his other literary achievements include editing The Dickens Theatrical Reader with his wife; several editorships, including being editor-in-chief of Dell’s Great Lives and Thoughts series; and a few novels he completed in the 1930’s.
At the time of his death at ninety-three in 1995, Johnson’s international accolades included Fulbright senior scholar, Guggenheim Fellow in England and Scotland, Officier de l’Ordre des Palines Académiques in France, and a fellowship in the English Royal Society of Arts. His service to the literary community involved four decades with the Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, and Novelists (PEN) American Center, sitting as vice president and president for a handful of years, and committee work on the Council for Basic Education.