THE COLLECTED LETTERS OF WILKIE COLLINS
For the first time The Collected Letters of Wilkie Collins are published in full online and can be read or downloaded free to use
The Collected Letters of Wilkie Collins
The downloaded pdf has bookmarks to help readers find their way around and is fully searchable.
The digital edition contains all letters written by Wilkie Collins which have been identified by the editors up to December 2023. There are 3398 letters written by Wilkie Collins in one chronological sequence plus 13 written by his family or others around the time of his death. All are fully footnoted and cross-referenced.
It includes 424 newly identified and 146 substantially amended since the four volumes of The Public Face of Wilkie Collins by the same authors was published in 2005. In addition, all the letters which were in summary form in those volumes are now given in full.
It includes all the additions and changes reported in Addenda and Corrigenda number 1 to 14 published since 2005 as well as new and updated analytical tables.
Each letter is identified by a unique and permanent four digit reference number which should form part of any citation. Please cite as The Collected Letters of Wilkie Collins, ed. William Baker, Andrew Gasson, Graham Law, Paul Lewis, online edition, Wilkie Collins Society, October 2024 and cite the letters including the unique reference number as: ‘Wilkie Collins to [Name], [day month year] [[NNNN]]’.
Addenda & Corrigenda
A 15th Addenda & Corrigenda is planned for the turn of the year containing letters identified in 2024 and substantial corrections which have come to light in that year.
For historical completeness, the 14 previous Addenda & Corrigenda to The Collected Letters of Wilkie Collins published by the Wilkie Collins Society from 2005 to 2023 can be downloaded individually or in one document below. Note that all of these addenda and corrigenda now form part of the online edition and may have been amended and vary from that definitive work.
Individually
Addenda & Corrigenda (14) 2023
Addenda & Corrigenda (13) 2020
Addenda & Corrigenda (12) 2018
Addenda & Corrigenda (11) 2017
Addenda & Corrigenda (10) 2016
Addenda & Corrigenda (9) 2014
Addenda & Corrigenda (8) 2013
Addenda & Corrigenda (7) 2011
Addenda & Corrigenda (6) 2010
Addenda & Corrigenda (5) 2009
Addenda & Corrigenda (4) 2008
Addenda & Corrigenda (3) 2007
Addenda & Corrigenda (2) 2006
Addenda & Corrigenda (1) 2005
In one file
Addenda & Corrigenda (1-14) 2005-2023
Previous online publication
• Baker, William, et al., eds. The Collected Letters of Wilkie Collins, Charlottesville, Virginia: InteLex Corporation, 2018.
URL: https://pm.nlx.com. Subscription is limited to academic institutions and libraries. It includes Addenda & Corrigenda 1 to 11. An updated version including 1 to 14 is in preparation.
Print publication
Around 100 publications from the 19th to the 21st century contain at least one Wilkie Collins letter in whole or in part, including of course his many biographies and some bibliographies.
The two substantial collected editions of his letters are:
• The Public Face of Wilkie Collins: The Collected Letters, ed. William Baker, Andrew Gasson, Graham Law, Paul Lewis, 4 vols, London: Pickering & Chatto, 2005. Contains 2987 letters.
• The Letters of Wilkie Collins, ed. William Baker and William Clarke, 2 vols, London: Macmillan, London, 1999. Contains 588 letters.