Wilkie Collins

Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel.

Born into the family of painter William Collins in London, he lived with his family in Italy and France as a child and learned French and Italian. He worked as a clerk for a tea merchant. After his first novel, Antonina, was published in 1850, he met Charles Dickens, who became a close friend, mentor and collaborator. Some of Collins's works were first published in Dickens' journals All the Year Roundand Household Words and the two collaborated on drama and fiction.

Collins published his best known works in the 1860s and achieved financial stability and an international reputation. During that time he began suffering from gout. After taking opium for the pain, he developed an addiction. During the 1870s and 1880s the quality of his writing declined along with his health.

Collins was critical of the institution of marriage and never married; he split his time between Caroline Graves, except for a two-year separation, and his common-law wife Martha Rudd, with whom he had three children.

Notable works:

  • Basil (1852)
  • Hide and Seek (1854)
  • The Dead Secret (1856)
  • The Frozen Deep (1857), a play co-written with Charles Dickens
  • "A House to Let" (1858), a short story co-written with Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Procter
  • "The Haunted House" a short story co-written with Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Adelaide Anne Proctor, George Sala and Hesba Stretton
  • The Woman in White (1860)
  • No Name (1862)
  • Armadale (1866)
  • No Thoroughfare (1867), a story and play co-written with Charles Dickens
  • The Moonstone (1868)
  • Man and Wife (1870)
  • Poor Miss Finch (1872), dedicated to Frances Minto Elliot
  • The Law and the Lady (1875)
  • The Black Robe (1881)
  • Heart And Science (1882-1883)

Screen adaptations of his novels:

  • The Woman in White (silent, U.K 1929)
  • The Moonstone (1934)
  • The Woman in White (USA 1948)
  • The Moonstone (UK, 7 episodes, 1959)
  • The Woman in White (UK 1997)
  • The Moonstone (UK 5 episodes 2016)