Wilkie collins author biography

Nationality: English.

Wilkie collins author biography wife

Born: London, 8 January 1824; son of the painter William Collins. Education: Maida Hill Academy, London, 1835-36; with his parents in Italy, 1836-38; at a private school, Highbury, London, 1838-41; apprentice, Antrobus and Company (tea merchants), London, 1841-46; studied at Lincoln's Inn, London, 1846-51; called to the bar, 1851.

Family: Lived with Caroline Graves, 1859-68 and 1870-80, adopted her daughter; supported Martha Rudd ("Mrs. Dawson"), 1868-89, two daughters and one son.

Wilkie collins author biography

Career: Friend and literary collaborator of Charles Dickens, q.v., 1851-70; staff member and contributor, Household Words and All the Year Round, 1856-61; addicted to opium from mid-1860s; gave reading tour of United States, 1873-74.

Also a painter with works exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, 1849. Died: 23 September 1889.

Publications

Collections

The Complete Shorter Fiction. 1995.

Short Stories

After Dark. 1856.

Miss or Mrs.?