Center Square & Hudson/Park in Albany in Albany County, New York — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Edgar Johnson
Photographed by Trudi Jacobson, September 10, 2026
1. Edgar Johnson Marker
Edgar Johnson, the great biographer of Charles Dickens, lived in this house.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music.
Location. 42° 39.24′ N, 73° 46.068′ W. Marker is in Albany, New York, in Albany County. It is in Center Square & Hudson/Park. It is on Willett Street 0.1 miles south of Hudson Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 78 Willett Street, Albany NY 12210, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Upstate New York and in the Capital District. It is also in the American Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: 78 Willett Street (a few steps from this marker); 78A Willett Street (within shouting distance of this marker);
this page online
More about this marker. Edgar Johnson was a literary scholar and biographer best known for Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph (1952), a large-scale critical biography. The book was widely treated as a major modern Dickens biography; later reviewers continued to describe it as highly readable and exceptionally comprehensive. He later wrote a major biography of Sir Walter Scott and served as chairman of the English Department at City College of New York. Johnson died in Albany in 1995 at the age of 93.
Sources:
Gottlieb, Robert. “Who Was Charles Dickens?” The New York Review of Books, June 10, 2010.
Johnson, Edgar. Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1952. 2 vols.
Weber State University, Stewart Library authority
Photographed by Trudi Jacobson, September 16, 2026
2. Edgar Johnson Marker (bottom right of building)
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 6, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 17, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York. This page has been viewed 28 times since then. Last updated on October 5, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 17, 2026, by Trudi Jacobson of Slingerlands, New York. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
