Wilkie Collins Biography
English Crime Writer, Considered First Detective Writer
English crime and mystery writer Wilkie Collins pioneered the modern detective story, and was considered the first detective novelist. He is also known for three other novels: The Woman in White, Armadale and No Name.
Early Life of Wilkie Collins
William Wilkie Collins was born in London on January 8, 1824, the son of William Collins, a landscape and portrait painter. He studied at Maida Hill Academy in 1835, aged 11. During the same year, he toured France and Italy with his parents and Charles, his brother. The family returned three years later, and Wilkie continued his studies at a boarding school. It was during this time that he began thinking up stories.
In 1841, Wilkie briefly went into business. He began an apprenticeship with the tea merchants. Although he wasn't that skilled at commerce, he started writing. After another three years, he started studying law at Lincoln's Inn. During this time, he also published his first major work which is the biography of his own father, Memoirs of the Life of William Collins.
He became a lawyer at 27 years old. He never practiced law but put to use his legal knowledge in his crime writing work.
The Full-time Writer
He was 24 when his first book, Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, appeared. Two years later came his first novel, Antonina, a historical romance set in ancient Rome. At 28 he produced Basil, his first novel based on crime, mystery and suspense.
In his thirties Collins wrote stories for Charles Dickens's magazines. Dickens helped him bring humour and believable characters into his books. In turn, Collins's brilliant plots and the use of suspense greatly influenced Dickens.
Wilkie Collins Famous Novels
He was 36 when his first major novel appeared. The Woman in White is a mystery involving two almost identical women. Eight years later The Moonstone followed, the first English detective novel, considered one of the best of all time. In it, Sergeant Cluff interviews people at a country house to discover who stole a huge Asian diamond supposed to carry a curse.
He died at the age of 65, on September 23, 1889. The characters in Collins's detective stories, sometimes far-fetched but often ingenious, each give their own distinctive version of events.
Works by Wilkie Collins
- Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, 1848
- Antonina, 1850
- Basil, 1852
- The Dead Secret, 1857
- The Woman in White, 1860
- No Name, 1862
- Armadale, 1866
- The Moonstone, 1868
- The New Magdalen, 1873
Sources:
Goring, Rosemary (editor), Larousse Dictionary of Writers. New York: Larousse, 1994
McGovern, Una (editor), Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap, 2002
Ousby, Ian. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: CUP, 1993
Wilkie Collins, English Crime Writer
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