His Writing
The Wilkie Collins Society reprints shorter and lesser-known works of Wilkie Collins, both fiction and non-fiction. It also publishes newly discovered work. Each reprint comes with an introduction.
Autobiography
Reminiscences of a Storyteller, October 1991.
Edited by Andrew Gasson.
Reprint from the original in the Universal Review, June 1888.
How I write my Books: Related in a Letter to a Friend, July 2007.
Edited by Andrew Gasson and Paul Lewis.
Collins’s own explanation of how he creates the plot and turns it into a story. First published in The Globe, 26 November 1887.
Drama
The Lighthouse – A Drama in Two Acts, June 2013.
Edited by Andrew Gasson and Caroline Radcliffe. 4to hardback 90pp.
The original text taken from the manuscript in the British Library dated 31 October 1851 and first performed 10 August to 17 October 1857. With notes on the writing and production of Wilkie’s first play. With 14 illustrations.
The Red Vial – A Drama in Three Acts, December 2017.
Edited by Caroline Radcliffe and Andrew Gasson. 4to hardback, 81pp.
The full text of the Texas manuscript as performed at the Olympic Theatre on 11 October 1858. With introduction, full notes and nine illustrations.
Stories
New Dragon of Wantley: A Social Revelation – A Lost Tale by Wilkie Collins, November 2007.
Edited and introduced by Professor Graham Law.
Reproduces a previously unidentified story by Wilkie Collins, originally published in The Leader, 20 December 1851. Law also uses new evidence to produce the most complete and accurate list yet of Collins’s contributions to The Lea
A little Fable, July 1996.
Edited by Andrew Gasson. A copy and transcript of a previously unpublished manuscript from the early 1880s. Similar to part of his 1883 novel Heart and Science.
A pictorial Tour to St. George Bosherville, November 1996.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
A comic account of a painting trip in France. Originally published in Bentley’s Miscellany, May 1851
The Cruise of the Tomtit, April 2003.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
A reprint of one of Wilkie’s longer and lighter pieces of non-fiction from Household Words, 22 December 1855. Includes full footnotes.
The Last Stage Coachman, Nov 1990.
Edited by Andrew Gasson
Reprint from the original in The Illuminated Magazine, August 1843.
The Victims of Circumstances Discovered in the Records of Old Trials, November 1992.
Edited by Andrew Gasson. Reprint of two stories published in Boy’s Own Paper, 23 October 1886 and 26 February 1887.
The Widows, September 2005.
Edited by Andrew Gasson and Graham Law. Facsimile and transcription of two unpublished sketches, for plays.
Volpurno: or The Student by Wilkie Collins, March 2009.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
This story was first identified in an American newspaper The Albion in July 1843 and it is the earliest known published work of Wilkie Collins.
The Ghost in the Cupboard Room, December 2009.
Newly transcribed by Paul Lewis from the original periodical publication for the 150th anniversary of its original publication in The Haunted House, the Christmas number of All The Year Round, 13 December 1859.
The Woman in White parts 1 and 2, Dec 2009.
Newly transcribed by Paul Lewis from the original periodical publication for the 150th anniversary of its original publication in All The Year Round, 26 November and 3 December 1859
The Victims of Circumstances Discovered in the Records of Old Trials. Second Edition. April 2024. This updated edition by Graham law incorporates all three of the tales with new information about their sources.
Essays
A plea for Sunday Reform, July 2000.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
An early polemical essay calling for art galleries and museums to open on Sundays. Originally published in The Leader, 27 September 1851.
All The Year Round – Non-fiction by Wilkie Collins (I), April 2011.
Contains ‘Sure to be Healthy Wealthy and Wise’, ‘The Royal Academy in Bed’, and ‘A New View of Society’. Edited by Paul Lewis. The first republication of these pieces from All the Year Round.
All the Year Round – Non-fiction by Wilkie Collins (II), September 2012.
Contains ‘The Bachelor Bedroom’, ‘The Dead Lock in Italy’, ‘Suggestions from a Maniac’.
Edited with introduction by Paul Lewis.
The first republication of these pieces from All the Year Round. Later evidence shows that ‘Suggestions from a Maniac’ was in fact written by Wilkie’s brother Charles Collins.
All the Year Round – Newly Identified Journalism by Wilkie Collins (I), May 2017.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
Contains ‘The Crusoe of the Snowy Desert’, ‘Hear the Postman’, ‘Managers and Music Halls’, three pieces newly identified by Jeremy Parrott.
All the Year Round – Newly Identified Journalism by Wilkie Collins (II), August 2017.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
Contains ‘Appalling Disclosure for the Lord Chamberlain’, ‘A Florentine Procession’, ‘The Last Leaves of a Sorrowful Book’, Three pieces newly identified by Jeremy Parrott.
Considerations on the Copyright Question Addressed to an American Friend, November 1997.
Edited by Andrew Gasson.
A diatribe against the lack of copyright protection in the United States of America for works by foreign authors. Originally published as a pamphlet in 1880.
A National Wrong by James Payn and Wilkie Collins, July 2004.
Edited by Graham Law.
Wilkie’s copyright dispute with the Dutch publishers Belinfante Brothers, originally published in Chambers’ Journal, 12 February 1870. Includes a commentary on the case and the development of international copyright law by Professor Graham Law.
Household Words – Non-fiction by Wilkie Collins part I, April 2006.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
Contains ‘Strike!’, ‘Highly Proper!’, ‘A Breach of British Privilege’, three of Wilkie’s non-fiction contributions to Dickens’s weekly Household Words.
Household Words – Non-fiction by Wilkie Collins part II, August 2006.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
‘A Shy Scheme’, ‘Awful Warning to Bachelors’, ‘Sea-breezes with the London Smack’, three more of Wilkie’s non-fiction contributions to Dickens’s weekly Household Words.
Magnetic Evenings at Home, August 2001.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
An account of mesmerism and clairvoyance with a reply by G.H.Lewes. Originally published in The Leader, January to April 1852.
The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, March 1999.
A perceptive and entertaining account of the RA’s Summer art exhibition. Originally published in Bentley’s Miscellany, June 1851.
The Preface to the French Edition of The Woman in White, February 1998.
Edited by Paul Lewis.
The specially written preface to La Dame en Blanc, dated June 1861 and published by Hetzel late in 1861. Translated into English with notes.