These books are listed in reverse date order.

1.William Baker and William Clarke (eds), The Letters of Wilkie Collins, 2 volumes, Macmillan, London 1999 ISBN 0-333-73247-2 These volumes are the first collected edition of Wilkie's letters. Sadly the publisher decided to limit them in size and out of the 2223 letters identified by the authors, only 464 are published in full, with a further 127 letters summarised in the text. However, Baker and Clarke do at least list the other 1632 letters in two appendices that, together with the text, form the first comprehensive handlist of Wilkie's letters. The editors have been críticised for incorrect transciptions, patchy notes, and some errors of fact. In addtlon, a small number of easily identifiable letters have been omitted. Nevertheless, these two volumes give us a splendid insight into Wilkie's life and times. Further volumes are planned, probably with a different publisher.

2.Andrew Gasson, Wilkie Collins - An Illustrated Guide, Oxford University Press, 1998 ISBN 0- 19-866215-7 Gasson's guide is an A-Z encyc1opedia of Wilkie Collins's life and wok The book has entres on every friend, relative, and acquaintance of Collins; fujj detai1s of the publishing history of every book, story, and play; potted histories of Victorian publishers and publishing practices; and contains comprehensive bibliographical detail throughout. It also has more than 200 illustrations, most published for the first time.

3.William M. Clarke, The Secret Life of Wilkie Collins, 2nd edition, Alan Sutton, 1996 ISBN 0 7509 1208 1 William Clarke is the husband of Collins great-granddaughter Faith Elizabeth Dawson and to a certain extent deals with hís life as a problem in family history. He has tracked down the full detai1s of Wilkie's relationships with his two partners, Caroline Graves and Martha Rudd. The family connections gave him unique access to some material. Includes many photographs, a family tree, and detalis of Collins'bank account. The first edition was published by W H Allen, London, 1988, ISBN 0 85031 960 9 and also in paperback by Alison and Busby, London, 1989 ISBN 0 7490 0031 7

4.Jean Ruer, Wilkie Collins, Presses Universitaires de Lille, 1995, ISBN 2-85939-381 - 1 Professor Jean Ruer wrote this book in 1976 as his doctoral thesis and it was published posthumously by his colleagues as a tribute to his work. It is a thorough and comprehensive review of Collins's life and work, though a bit brief on the post-1970 period. Written in French.

5.Catherine Peters, The King of Inventors, Secker and Warburg, London 1991, ISBN 0 436 36712 2 Catherine Peters, an Oxford academic, has been everywhere and read everything. Wonderful footnotes and the most comprehensive bibliography of material about Collins. Lacks some detail about his early work. Also in paperback Minerva 1992 ISBN 0 7493 9817 5

6.Dorothy Leigh Sayers, Wilkie Collins: a biographical and critical study, ed. E R Gregory, Toledo, Ohio, 1977. Sadly, Dorothy Sayers did not finish this book before her death in 1957.

7.W H Marshall, Wilkie Collins, Twayne Publishers, Inc., New York, 1970 A short general study which concentrates mainly on listing his work and summarizing the plots. No.94 in the Twayne English Authors Series.

8.Nuel Pharr Davis, The Life of Wilkie Collins, Urbana, University of Illinois Press, 1956 This book has been criticised for drawing too many inferences about Collins's life from the plots and events of his books. But it contains a lot of very useful information, especially in its copious footnotes.

9.Robert Ashley, Wilkie Collins, London 1952 A brief general study which nevertheless contains some useful material.

10. Kenneth Robinson, Wilkie Collins, Bodley Head, London, 1951 The first book length biography of Collins and absolutely superb. Full of detail but frustrating for its lack of sources. Republished by Davis-Poynter, London, 1974.

11.S M Ellis, Wilkie Collins, Le Fanu, and others, Constable, London 1931 The first chapter ís a useful 53 page account of Wilkie's life but inevitably lacks detail. Relies mainly on reminiscences. It was at the time the only substantial account of his life in English. Contains a shorter chapter on Wilkie's brother, Charles Allston Collins. Re-issued in 1951 with no changes.

12.Hans Sehlbach, Untersuchungen über die Romankunst von Wilkie Collins, Verlag der Frommannschen Buchhandlung (Walter Biedermann), Jena, 1931 The first book length study of Collins's work in the context of his fife. Wdtten in German.

13.Ernst von Wolzogen, Wilkie Collins: Ein biographisch-kritischer Versuch, Unflad, Leipzig, 1885 This book is the only book-length biography of Collins published during his life. Written in German.

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