WILKIE COLLINS

Few novelists have enjoyed greater glory than did Wilkie Collins at the height of his fame; to few did loss of popularity in later years come more bitterly. For fame at one time undeniably was his. Not only had he a large and enthusiastic public; not only were his works translated into half a dozen languages within a month of their original publication; not only was he pestered by the editors of two hemispheres for stories and serials; but also he figured prominently in the professional literary life of the time, was the intimate friend of Dickens, and a member of the innermost ring of artistic and intellectual society. Probably to his intimacy with the chief literary personalities of his time is due the considerable survival of his reputation. Despite the fact that during the last period of his life he suffered severe eclipse, and although, beyond The Moonstone and The Woman in White, none of his books are regularly read to-day, he is a name more familiar to the world than Trollope, a name more notably literary than Marryat. In the sixties, no less than in the nineteen-twenties, to belong to the writing set was two-thirds of reputation. There is no log-rolling so expert, no admiration so mutual as that existing among members of the various groups that practise the arts. Whence it has come about that the name of Wilkie Collins—who as an artist may not be mentioned in the same chapter as Trollope or Marryat, or even Mrs. Gaskell—is a household word, while those of his greater fellows sound strangely, as the notes of some old-fashioned melody.

I do not seek to imply that Collins' survival is in no way due to the quality of his work. He won the admiration of his own age and may claim that of posterity as a superb teller of stories and, in his latter days, as a pathetic and courageous figure. But apart from his dexterity in the contriving of plot, apart from a great (if intermittent) talent for the portrayal of abnormal character, he is inferior as a painter of life to many writers of his time whose very existence is nowadays forgotten.

And yet he would, perhaps, himself be content to have it so. That it was the novelist's primary duty to tell a story was his own creed, and faithfully he abode by it. He does not reveal to us human nature as does Trollope; nor, like Disraeli, pique our interest with satiric brilliance on topics of follies of the day; he has none of Marryat's gay familiarity with the winds that blow and the sun that shines on the crossroads of life's pilgrimage; he has no fund of rough but genial humanity like Reade; he is not tender like Mrs. Gaskell, nor mystic visionary like Herman Melville; even Whyte Melville, with his stilted rhetoric and clumsy naÏvetÉ, has at times an attractive freshness that Collins lacks. But if we rid our minds of all thought of him as seeking to throw on the dark places of existence the light of interpretation, looking to him rather for entertainment and for excitement, for deft mystery and for extraordinary coincidence, he will not disappoint us.

Of his novels the largest category, and that including all the books (save perhaps two) that bear re-reading nowadays, is that of the dramatic and mystery stories.

The first to appear was After Dark, published in 1856. To the modern reader, the unmistakable first appearance of the real Collins in these excellent tales comes with a pleasurable shock after the mild bohemianism of the preceding novel, Hide and Seek. After Dark consists of six narratives of varying length and subject, ingeniously woven together into the pattern of a single story. At their best they are as good as anything the author ever wrote; even at their worst they are free from the perfunctory carelessness that mars so much of his later work.

The Dead Secret (1857) and The Queen of Hearts (1859) show the novelist carrying farther his talent for dramatic construction and his experiments in technique. Both books contain descriptive passages of sombre power.

There follow successively the four best books of Collins' career. The Woman in White (1860), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866), and The Moonstone (1868) are story-telling as fine as the nineteenth century can show. But they make evident that, even at his zenith, Collins was no reader of other men's hearts. He could fashion ingenious puppets to his will, entangling them in the meshes of his intricate and faultlessly constructed plots; but neither Count Fosco nor Captain Wragge, neither Miss Gwilt nor Sergeant Cuff, remains with the reader as a new friend or as a new enemy. Each is remembered, rather, as a striking and skilfully designed marionette, jerking through a Collins drama at the bidding of a delicate mechanism of strings.

After The Moonstone the decadence began, and, to a point, accountably enough. In the first place, the author threw himself into the production of propaganda fiction, with results (as may be seen) praiseworthy but a little ridiculous. Secondly, he paid the usual price of success and began to over-write. Whereas between 1850 and 1868 he published eleven novels and books of tales, between 1870 and his death in 1889 he published eighteen, in addition to a mass of short stories for magazines, plays, and other incidental work. Thirdly—although not until late in the seventies—his health began to fail. With reasons as good as these for a falling off in Collins' work, it were ungracious to inquire whether, had he eschewed reform, controlled his pen, and retained his strength and eyesight, his fiction would have advanced from strength to strength. Perhaps; perhaps not. Let us return from hypothetical dilemma to melancholy fact. After The Moonstone the decadence unmistakably began.

When next he came before the public with a novel of plot, and left for a moment the righting of public wrongs, his offering was mechanical enough. The Two Destinies (1876) is built on a series of coincidences so incredible, that even Collins' candid claim to search the very border-line of impossibility for material of which to make a story cannot reconcile us to their unlikelihood.

The Haunted Hotel (1879), Jezebel's Daughter (1880), and I Say No (1884) mark a slight improvement, and can be read with pleasure for the unfailing ingenuity of their design. The Evil Genius (1886) is in the nature of a bad relapse, from which the dramatic tales never wholly recover, although, of the three remaining, Little Novels (1887) and The Legacy of Cain (1889) are not without flashes of the old skill and invention. Blind Love, finished by Sir Walter Besant and published posthumously, may perhaps claim immunity from criticism.

As a novelist of indignation Collins is pathetic rather than blameworthy. He had the usual fanaticisms of the invalid intellectual—hatred of athleticism, of sport, of legal injustice, of religious intrigue, of social insincerity; and his propaganda novels give expression to his passionate dislikes with a petulant but rather impressive sincerity. Fortunately for the modern reader of books which by their very nature are now out of date, Collins did not fail, even in his tilting at windmills, to regulate his movements with practised skill. Wherefore all but one of the propaganda novels have well-contrived plots and continuity of interest, which those will enjoy who can disentangle the fictional from the instructional in the stories' purpose. These “indignation novels” are six in number:

That in other books are present elements of reforming zeal I am aware—for example, the abuse of private asylums figures in The Woman in White and, as mentioned below, there is a propaganda aspect to Basil; but the six above named have their origin wholly in the author's loathing of some injustice or some social evil.

Man and Wife illustrates the cruel working of the marriage laws of the United Kingdom and, incidentally, voices the author's conviction that athleticism was at the time rapidly brutalizing the youth of England. The Law and the Lady ventilates another grievance against legal injustice in matters sexual. The New Magdalen and The Fallen Leaves are protests against the outlawry of the prostitute and of the girl who gives herself, unhallowed by the religious rite, to love. It is strange that, of two books on the same subject, one (The New Magdalen) should be the best novel of its class and not far below the highest level ever attained by the author, while the other (The Fallen Leaves) should hold the last place among everything that Collins wrote. The New Magdalen is a moving and dignified treatment of a very difficult theme; The Fallen Leaves, from its aggressive preface to its sugary, unreal end, is tragic proof that high motive and technical efficiency may yet come together and produce only imbecile hysteria.

The Black Robe is anti-Jesuit; Heart and Science anti-vivisection. Both are readable, and the latter something more. It may be noted that Collins himself called Heart and Science his best novel since Man and Wife. Probably opinion to-day would set it above that humourless and over-appendixed story, but it must rank below The New Magdalen and, possibly, also below The Haunted Hotel.

The novels that remain may hardly be classified. Antonina, the story of Ancient Rome, with which in 1850, and following a fashion of the day, he began his novelist's career, is essentially a first book—painstaking, over-elaborate, and dull.

It was succeeded by Mr. Wray's Cash Box (1852), a brief and sentimental tale, mainly interesting for the evidence it provides of Dickens's influence over the young Collins at the very beginning of their long friendship. Those who enjoy hearty Christmas jollity, lovable if ludicrous old age, uncouth fidelity, incompetent villainy, and sweet simple maidenhood will find Mr. Wray's Cash Box pleasant enough.

Basil (1852) and Hide and Seek (1854) are novels of contemporary life, a little sombre, emotionally a little exaggerated. There is a hint of crusading fervour in Basil (against drunken nurses and hospital routine), but the motif is not strong enough to class the book as a propaganda novel. The young author (as many both before and since have done) found stimulus for these books in the pathetic figure of the debauched girl; but she receives at his hands treatment little different from that usually given her by serious neophytes, eager to paint her tragic isolation for the improvement of the novel-reading public.

There is in Hide and Seek an element of interest apart from that of the story itself. Much of the action takes place in a painter's studio, and Collins has full scope for showing his fondness for art, an enthusiasm suitable enough in the son and biographer of a distinguished painter, but somewhat uncommon among novelists of his age. Throughout his work he makes play with knowledge of contemporary painting, displaying decided and on the whole admirable taste, often well in advance of his time.

Poor Miss Finch (1872) is more a story of contemporary social life than either a novel of mystery or one of propaganda. It may therefore appear here as pendant to the two early books just described. The central figure is a blind girl. In Hide and Seek the author took credit to himself for introducing a deaf mute, but as the affliction plays no part in the story one must refrain from joining in the applause. The blindness of Miss Finch, on the other hand, is the pivot of her tale, and a very elaborate, improbable, and overcrowded tale it is. The fact is regrettable. Neatly contrived, related in a series of narratives from different sources and from different points of view, based largely on the antagonism of two brothers, and pervaded by the wise spirit of an elderly governess-companion, this novel is so nearly an epitome of the methods and tricks of Wilkie Collins, that one could wish it more thoroughly a success.

And here, save for scattered volumes of short stories and one or two brief and unimportant novels, ends the tale of Collins's books. He is a writer for tired minds, capable—thanks to his perfect control of the mechanism of incident—of holding the interest without calling on the emotional reserves of his reader. His influence on the novel of sensation has been enormous. It is the least of his due that a generation brought up on the mystery stories of his disciples should find time to turn over the principal works of the master himself.

BIOGRAPHY

The only biography of Wilkie Collins which has yet been published is an insignificant German book issued in 1885.

1848

MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM COLLINS, R.A.: With Selections from his Journals and Correspondence. By his son, W. Wilkie Collins. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans. MDCCCXLVIII. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. xii + 348. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated April 29, 1848, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. vi + 354.

No half-titles. Brown-purple (or grey-blue) cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers. Vol. I. contains engraved portrait after Linnell and engraved title-page after Collins, immediately preceding printed title. Vol. II. contains engraved title-page after Collins, immediately preceding printed title.

Note—This book was published in November, 1848.

1850

ANTONINA: Or The Fall of Rome. A Romance of the Fifth Century. By W. Wilkie Collins, author of The Life of William Collins, R.A. (Quotation from Scuderi.) London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. MDCCCL. 3 vols. Tall Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 8).

Vol. I. pp. xiv + (ii) + 295 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 338 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (323) and (324).

Vol. III. pp. (viii) + 338 + (2). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (339) and (340).

Cream embossed cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers, printed with publisher's advertisements.

Notes—(i) This book was published on February 27, 1850.

(ii) Copies in paper boards, half cloth and with paper label, were probably also issued.

1851

RAMBLES BEYOND RAILWAYS: Or Notes in Cornwall Taken A-Foot. By W. Wilkie Collins, author of The Life of William Collins, R.A., Antonina etc. With Illustrations by Henry C. Brandling. (Quotation from A Winter's Tale.) London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, Publisher in Ordinary to Her Majesty. 1851. 1 vol. Sq. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¼) pp. (viii) + 304. No half-title. Twelve full-page illustrations in tinted lithograph, printed separately. Cream-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Yellow end-papers, printed with publisher's advertisements.

Notes—(i) This book was published on January 30, 1851.

(ii) The second edition (January 9, 1852) contained a frontispiece differently tinted.

1852

MR. WRAY'S CASH BOX: Or The Mask and the Mystery: A Christmas Sketch. By W. Wilkie Collins, author of Antonina etc. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1852. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 6¾). Pp. viii + 171 + (5). Publisher's advertisements occupy pp. (173) to (176). Grey-blue cloth, gilt. Yellow end-papers. Etched frontispiece by J. E. Millais, dated 1852, and printed separately.

Note—This book was published in January, 1852.

BASIL: A Story of Modern Life. By W. Wilkie Collins, author of Antonina, Rambles Beyond Railways etc. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1852. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. 300 pp. (6) to (21) are paged in roman numerals. Half-title to this volume.

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 303 + (1). No half-title.

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 301 + (1). No half-title.

Paper boards, half cloth, paper label, white end-papers. Also in bright blue embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Brick-red end-papers.

Note—This book was published on November 16, 1852. An one-volume edition (1862, magenta cloth, blocked in gold and blind) contains a dedicatory letter not elsewhere published.

1854

HIDE AND SEEK. By W. Wilkie Collins, author of Antonina, Basil etc. London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1854. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 297 + (3). Publisher's advertisements, dated June, 1854, occupy pp. (299) and (300).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 322 + (2). Publisher's advertisements, dated June, 1854, occupy pp. (323) and (324).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 332.

Paper boards (half cloth), paper label. White end-papers. Also in pale maroon cloth, gilt, blocked in blind, pale yellow end-papers.

Note—This book was published on June 6, 1854.

AFTER DARK. By Wilkie Collins, author of Basil, Hide and Seek etc. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. 1856. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 315 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., dated January, 1856, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 322 + (2). Publishers' advertisement occupies p. (323).

Boards, half cloth, paper label. White end-papers. Also in dark grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind, yellow end-papers.

Contents: Vol. I., A Terribly Strange Bed—A Stolen Letter—Sister Rose. Vol. II., The Lady of Glenwith Grange—Gabriel's Marriage—The Yellow Mask.

Note—This book was published in February, 1856.

1857

THE DEAD SECRET. By Wilkie Collins. London: Bradbury and Evans, 11 Bouverie Street. 1857. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 303 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 331 + (1). No half-title.

Grey-purple cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book was published in June, 1857.

(ii) Copies in brown cloth, with yellow end-papers, printed with Chapman and Hall advertisements, are of later issue.

1859

A PLOT IN PRIVATE LIFE AND OTHER TALES. By Wilkie Collins, author of After Dark, Hide and Seek etc. Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz. 1859.

1 vol. (4½ × 6¼). Pp. (viii) + 294 + (2). Paper wrappers of usual Tauchnitz style.

Contents: A Plot in Private Life—Mad Monkton—The Black Cottage—The Family Secret—The Biter Bit.

1859

THE QUEEN OF HEARTS. By Wilkie Collins, author of The Dead Secret, After Dark, etc. etc. London: Hurst and Blackett, Publishers, Successors to Henry Colburn, 13 Great Marlborough Street. 1859. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7½).

Vol. I. pp. iii + (i) + 314. Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., undated, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 359 + (1).

Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 307 + (1).

No half-titles. Dark grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.

Note—This book was published in October, 1859.

1860

THE WOMAN IN WHITE. By Wilkie Collins. Author of The Dead Secret, After Dark etc. etc. London: Sampson Low, Son and Co., 47 Ludgate Hill. 1860. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 316.

Vol. II. pp. (ii) + 360.

Vol. III. pp. (ii) + 368.

No half-titles. Preface to Vol. I., dated August 3, 1860. Violet embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Pale yellow end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book was published in September, 1860. The first one-volume edition (1861, magenta cloth blocked in gold and blind) contains a special preface.

(ii) I am uncertain whether or not the earliest copies of this novel contained in any one of the three volumes a publishers' catalogue. The first editions I have seen show a 16 pp. catalogue at the end of Vol. III., but dated November, 1860, so that they belong clearly to a subsequent issue. The Woman in White is a case over which the buyer should take great care. A so-called “New Edition” was issued in the year of publication and with binding identical to that of the first edition, for which reason only the right advertisement matter can show that a copy is untampered with. I should welcome information tending to establish whether a catalogue (and if so where and of what date) should properly figure in a “right” copy of the novel.

1862

NO NAME. By Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White, The Dead Secret, etc. etc. etc. London: Sampson Low, Son and Co., 47 Ludgate Hill. 1862. 3 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. ix + (1) + 339 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 363 + (1).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 408.

Scarlet embossed cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Pale yellow end-papers.

Note—Although this book is dated 1862, it was not actually published until January, 1863.

1863

MY MISCELLANIES. By Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White, No Name, The Dead Secret etc. etc. etc. London: Sampson Low, Son and Co., Ludgate Hill. 1863. 2 vols. Ex. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¾).

Vol. I. pp. vi + (ii) + 291 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., printed on text paper, and dated November, 1863, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 300. Publishers' catalogue, 16 pp., printed on text paper and dated November, 1863, bound in at end.

Green embossed cloth, gilt. Green-ochre end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book was published in November, 1863.

(ii) Copies in brown cloth gilt are of later issue.

ARMADALE. By Wilkie Collins. With Twenty Illustrations by George H. Thomas. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. 1866. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¾).

Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 304.

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 372.

No half-titles. Vol. I. contains nine illustrations, Vol. II. eleven. Red-brown cloth, blocked in gold. Yellow end-papers.

Note—This book was published in June, 1866. The story appeared serially in the “Cornhill.”

1868

THE MOONSTONE: A Romance. By Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White, No Name, Armadale, etc. etc. London: Tinsley Brothers, 18 Catherine Street, Strand. 1868. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 315 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 297 + (1). Publishers' advertisements (2 pp.) inserted before half-title.

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 309 + (1). Publishers' advertisements (2 pp.) inserted before half-title.

Violet cloth, blocked in gold and blind. Cream end-papers.

Note—This book was published in July, 1868.

1870

MAN AND WIFE: A Novel. By Wilkie Collins. (Quotation from Bunyan.) London: F. S. Ellis, 33 King Street, Covent Garden. 1870. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).

Vol. I. pp. xiv + 356. Publisher's advertisements, 8 pp., bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. vi + 359 + (1).

Vol. III. pp. vi + 348.

Maroon cloth, gilt. Black end-papers.

Note—This book was published in June, 1870.

1872

POOR MISS FINCH: A Novel. By Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White, No Name, Man and Wife, etc. London: Richard Bentley and Son. 1872. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).

Vol. I. pp. ix + (iii) + 314 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy p. (315).

Vol. II. pp. iv + 316.

Vol. III. pp. iv + 320.

No half-titles. Purple-brown cloth, blocked in black. Cream end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book was published on January 26, 1872. The story appeared serially in “Cassell's Magazine.”

(ii) Copies in bright blue embossed cloth, gilt, without imprint on spine, are of a later issue.

1873

THE NEW MAGDALEN: A Novel. By Wilkie Collins. “Lead us not into temptation.” London: Richard Bentley and Son. 1873. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (5 × 7½).

Vol. I. pp. vi + 297 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. iv + 298 + (2). Publishers' advertisement occupies p. (299).

No half-titles. Red-brown cloth, blocked in gold and black. Cream end-papers.

Note—This book was published on May 17, 1873. The story appeared serially in the “Temple Bar Magazine.”

MISS OR MRS.? And Other Stories in Outline. By Wilkie Collins. London: Richard Bentley and Son, New Burlington Street, 1873. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?). Pp. viii + 325 + (3). Publishers' advertisement occupies p. (327).

No half-title. Brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pale yellow end-papers.

Contents: Miss or Mrs.?—Blow up the Brig!—The Fatal Cradle.

Note—This book was published on January 17, 1873. The stories first appeared in “The Graphic” and in “All the Year Round.”

1874

THE FROZEN DEEP: And Other Stories. (Readings and Writings in America.) By Wilkie Collins. London: Richard Bentley and Son, New Burlington Street. 1874. 2 vols. Small Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 248.

Vol. II. pp. vi + 282 + (2). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (283) and (284).

Blue cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pale yellow end-papers.

Contents: Vol. I., The Frozen Deep—The Dream Woman. Vol. II., John Jago's Ghost; or The Dead Alive.

Notes—(i) This book was published on November 2, 1874. The title story appeared serially in the “Temple Bar Magazine”; the remainder were first published in “Household Words” and in the “Home Journal.”

(ii) Copies in brown cloth, with yellow end-papers, printed with Chapman and Hall advertisements, are of later issue.

1875

THE LAW AND THE LADY: A Novel. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1875. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. vi + (ii) + 246 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 40 pp., dated December, 1874, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. iv + 269 + (3). Advertisement of author's previous works occupies p. (271).

Vol. III. pp. iv + 341 + (3). Advertisement of author's previous works occupies p. (343).

No half-titles. Dark green cloth, gilt, blocked in blind. Pale yellow end-papers.

Note—This book was published in February, 1875.

1876

THE TWO DESTINIES: A Romance. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1876. 2 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 311 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. iv + 301 + (3). No half-title. Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated April, 1876, bound in at end.

Bright green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Cream end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book was published in September, 1876.

(ii) I have seen a copy bound in brown cloth, blocked and lettered identically to those in bright green, and containing a publishers' catalogue dated September, 1876. Whether the brown binding is necessarily later than the green, or whether one variety is a trial binding and the other that finally adopted, I do not know.

1878

A SHOCKING STORY. By Wilkie Collins. Author of Man and Wife, Woman in White etc. New York: A. J. Barnes and Company, 111 and 113 William Street. 1 vol. (4½ × 6½). Pp. (ii) plus 57 + (3). This pamphlet is not wrappered, but pp. (i) and (60) form outside covers. Both are plain without printing of any sort.

Notes—(i) The date 1878 appears under the note of copyright on verso of title.

(ii) This story was issued in the November number of the “International Review,” an American periodical published by Barnes and Co., who brought out the pamphlet described above. In Great Britain the tale appeared in the “Belgravia Annual” (December, 1878), published by Chatto and Windus, but was not reissued in other than periodical form.

1879

THE HAUNTED HOTEL: A Mystery of Modern Venice, to which is added My Lady's Money. By Wilkie Collins. With six illustrations by Arthur Hopkins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1879. 2 vols. Demy 8vo (5½ × 8¼).

Vol. I. pp. viii + (ii) + 230 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 40 pp., dated October, 1878, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 259 + (1).

Vol. I. contains five illustrations and Vol. II. one illustration, line engraved and printed separately. Dark brown cloth, gilt, blocked in white. Blue-black end-papers.

Notes—(i) This book, although dated 1879, was actually published in November, 1878.

(ii) My Lady's Money was issued by Tauchnitz in 1879, together with The Ghost's Touch, a story I cannot trace to have appeared in book form in Great Britain.

1879

A ROGUE'S LIFE: From his Birth to his Marriage. By Wilkie Collins. London: Richard Bentley and Son, Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. 1879. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 6?). Pp. iv + 188. No half-title. Red cloth gilt, blocked in black. Black end-papers.

Note—This book was published on April 7, 1879. It is the first edition in book form of a tale issued periodically in the early fifties in “Household Words.” The text was slightly revised by the author before publication.

THE FALLEN LEAVES. By Wilkie Collins. First Series. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1879. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 275 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 269 + (3). Publishers' advertisements, 40 pp., dated May, 1879, bound in at end.

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 295 + (1).

Olive-brown cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Black and grey-blue decorated end-papers.

Note—This book was published in July, 1879.

1880

JEZEBEL'S DAUGHTER. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1880. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 282 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated February, 1880, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 281 + (3).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 296.

Pale buff cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Dark green and white decorated end-papers.

Note—This book was published in March, 1880.

1880

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE COPYRIGHT QUESTION ADDRESSED TO AN AMERICAN FRIEND. By Wilkie Collins. London: TrÜbner and Co., Ludgate Hill. 1880. 1 vol. Cr. 4to (6¾ × 9¼). Pp. 12 + (4). This pamphlet is not wrappered, pp. (1) and (16) forming outside covers. P. (1) is lettered as above, and serves both as front wrapper and title-page.

THE BLACK ROBE. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1881. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. vi + 320.

Vol. II. pp. vi + 296.

Vol. III. pp. vi + 266 + (6). Publishers' advertisements occupy pp. (267) to (272). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated March, 1881, bound in at end.

Black cloth, gilt, blocked in white. Blue and white decorated end-papers.

Note—This book was published in April, 1881.

1883

HEART AND SCIENCE: A Story of the Present Time. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1883. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¼).

Vol. I. pp. xvi + 294 + (2).

Vol. II. pp. (iv) + 293 + (3).

Vol. III. pp. (iv) + 302 + (2). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated March, 1883, bound in at end.

Grey-blue cloth, gilt, blocked in chocolate. Pale green and white decorated end-papers.

Note—This book was published in April, 1883.

1884

I SAY NO. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1884. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¼).

Vol. I. pp. (viii) + 295 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated March, 1884, bound in at end.

Vol. II. pp. (viii) + 296.

Vol. III. pp. (viii) + 324.

Slate-blue cloth, gilt, blocked in magenta. Pale green and white decorated end-papers.

Note—This book was published in October, 1884.

1886

THE EVIL GENIUS: A Domestic Story. By Wilkie Collins. London. Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1886. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¼).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 284.

Vol. II. pp. vi + 304.

Vol. III. pp. vi + 265 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated May, 1886, bound in at end.

Dark grey-green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Grey and white decorated end-papers.

Note—This book was published in September, 1886.

1886

THE GUILTY RIVER. By Wilkie Collins, author of The Woman in White, Armadale, The Evil Genius etc. Arrowsmith's Christmas Annual, 1886. Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, 11 Quay Street. London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., 4 Stationers' Hall Court. Price 1s. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4½ × 6½). Pp. (viii) + 188 + (12). No half-title. Advertisements occupy pp. (i) to (vi), p. (vii) is title-page, p. (viii) is occupied by advertisements, as also pp. (189) to (200). Buff paper wrappers, printed in dark blue, black and yellow. Advertisements occupy back outside wrapper and spine, which is not printed with title of story.

Note—The wording given above is that of wrapper, not of title-page, because there exist several varieties of the book (all of later date), which can most easily be identified by the discrepancies between their wrappers and that of the first issue.

LITTLE NOVELS. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1887. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. (vi) + 319 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. (vi) + 331 + (1).

Vol. III. pp. (viii) + 303 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated April, 1887, bound in at end.

Bright blue cloth, gilt, blocked in red. Grey and white decorated end-papers.

Contents: Vol. I., Mrs. Zant and the Ghost—Miss Morris and the Stranger—Mr. Cosway and the Landlady—Mr. Medhurst and the Princess—Mr. Lismore and the Widow.

Vol. II., Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman—Miss Minor and the Groom—Mr. Lepel and the Housekeeper—Mr. Captain and the Nymph—Mr. Marmaduke and the Minister.

Vol. III., Mr. Percy and the Prophet—Miss Bertha and the Yankee—Miss Dulane and My Lord—Mr. Policeman and the Cook.

Note—This book was published in May, 1887.

1889

THE LEGACY OF CAIN. By Wilkie Collins. London: Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1889. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7).

Vol. I. pp. viii + 289 + (1).

Vol. II. pp. vi + 263 + (1).

Vol. III. pp. vi + 281 + (1). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated October, 1888, bound in at end.

Blue cloth, gilt, blocked in red and black. Pale grey and white decorated end-papers.

Note—Although dated 1889, this book was actually published in November, 1888.

BLIND LOVE. By Wilkie Collins. With a Preface by Walter Besant, and Illustrations by A. Forestier. London: Chatto and Windus. Piccadilly. 1890. 3 vols. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?).

Vol. I. pp. x + (ii) + 302 + (2).

Vol. II. pp. vi + (ii) + 303 + (i). Publishers' catalogue, 32 pp., dated October, 1889, bound in at end.

Vol. III. pp. vi + (ii) + 316.

Blue cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Pale grey and white decorated end-papers.

Note—This book was published in January, 1890.

1890

THE LAZY TOUR OF TWO IDLE APPRENTICES. NO THOROUGHFARE. THE PERILS OF CERTAIN ENGLISH PRISONERS. By Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. With Illustrations. London: Chapman and Hall, Limited. 1890. 1 vol. Ex. Cr. 8vo (5¼ × 7?). Pp. vi + (ii) + 327 + (1). Dark green cloth, gilt, blocked in black. Black end-papers. Eight full-page illustrations in line, printed separately.

Note—Of the stories here published in book form for the first time No Thoroughfare first appeared as the Extra Christmas Number to “All the Year Round” for 1867 (1 vol. 6? × 9¾, pp. 48, bright blue paper wrappers, printed in black) and The Perils of Certain English Prisoners as the “Christmas Story for 1857” in “Household Words” (1 vol., 5? × 8?, pp. 36, buff paper wrappers printed in violet, red and green).

1861

A MESSAGE FROM THE SEA: A Drama in Three Acts. By Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. London: Published by G. Halsworth, at the office of “All the Year Round,” Wellington Street, Strand. 1861. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7¼). Pp. 68. Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.

Note—The story upon which this play is based appeared as the Extra Christmas Number to “All the Year Round” for 1860 (1 vol., 6½ × 9¾, pp. 48, bright blue paper wrappers, printed in black).

1863

NO NAME: A Drama in Five Acts. Founded on, and adapted from, the story so entitled. By Wilkie Collins Esq. London: Published by G. Halsworth, at the office of “All the Year Round.” 1863. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7¼). 60 pp. Pink paper wrappers, printed in black.

Note—This play was also issued in De Witt's Acting Series (No. 104), published by Robert M. de Witt, New York, in pale yellow wrappers printed in black. The pamphlet is undated.

1866

ARMADALE: A Drama in Three Acts. (Altered from the novel of Armadale for performance on the stage.) By Wilkie Collins. London: Published for the author by Smith, Elder and Co., 65 Cornhill. 1866. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo. Pp. 76. Pink paper wrappers, printed in black.

THE FROZEN DEEP: A Drama in Three Acts. By Wilkie Collins. (Not published.) 1866. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4 × 6½). Pp. 46 + (2). Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.

1867

NO THOROUGHFARE: A Drama in Five Acts. (Altered from the Christmas story, for performance on the stage.) By Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. London: Published at the Office of “All the Year Round,” 26 Wellington Street. 1867. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7¼). Pp. 89 + (1). Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.

Notes—(i) Another issue was made of this play under the same date and with identical format and title-page, except for the addition, beneath the imprint, of the words: Entered at Stationers' Hall. This issue consists, however, only of pp. 78 + (2), and the text of the play is different from Act IV., Scene III., to the end.

(ii) The story upon which this play is based appeared as the Extra Christmas Number to “All the Year Round” for 1867 (see above, The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, 1890, note).

(iii) Collectors will be interested to note, as an item in Collinsiana, an American dramatic version of No Thoroughfare which appeared as No. 348 in French's Library of Standard Drama. This version is entitled:

Identity or No Thoroughfare by Louis Lequel. Dramatized from the Christmas Story of Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. New York: Samuel French, Publisher, 122 Nassau Street.

1 vol. (4½ × 7½). Pp. 44. Yellow paper wrappers, printed in black.

The booklet is undated, save for the statement that the play was entered in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York in 1867. The wrapper bears French's London as well as his New York imprint.

1869

BLACK AND WHITE: A Love Story in Three Acts. By Wilkie Collins and Charles Fletcher. London: Printed by C. Whiting, Beaufort House, Strand. 1869. 1 vol. Slim Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7½). Pp. 56. White paper wrappers, the first page of which serves as title and is printed as above.

NO NAME: A Drama in Four Acts. (Altered from the novel for performance on the stage.) By Wilkie Collins. London: Published by the author, 90 Gloucester Place, Portman Square. 1870. 1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7¼). Pp. 160, of which pp. (1) to (4) are unnumbered. The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the paper only, is paged (5) to 82. Buff paper wrappers, printed in black.

Note—This is a different text from that published in 1863.

1871

THE WOMAN IN WHITE: A Drama in Prologue and Four Acts. (Altered from the novel for performance on the stage.) By Wilkie Collins. London. Published by the author, 90 Gloucester Place, Portman Square. 1871. 1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4½ × 7¼). Pp. (172), of which pp. (1) to (4) are unnumbered. The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the paper only, is paged (5) to 88. Buff paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with No Name.

1873

THE DREAM WOMAN: A Mystery in Four Narratives and Two Parts. By Wilkie Collins. Altered and enlarged for reading in public from the original story published in the collection called The Queen of Hearts. Boston: Privately printed for the author. 1873. 1 vol. Short Med. 4to (9 × 11?). Pp. 110, of which pp. (1) to (3) are unnumbered. The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the paper only, is paged 5 to 55. No half-title. Grey paper wrappers; quarter grey-purple cloth. The wrappers are plain, without printing of any sort.

THE NEW MAGDALEN: A Dramatic Story in a Prologue and Three Acts. By Wilkie Collins. (Represented for the first time in London at the Olympic Theatre, May 19, 1873.) London: Published by the author, 90 Gloucester Place, Portman Square. 1873. 1 vol. Sm. Cr. 8vo (4? × 7?). Pp. 158, of which pp. (1) to (4) are unnumbered. The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the paper only, is paged 5 to 81. Buff paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with No Name.

1875

MISS GWILT: A Drama in Five Acts. (Altered from the novel Armadale.) By Wilkie Collins, printed for performance at the Theatre only, not published. 1 vol. Demy 8vo (5¼ × 8½). Pp. 104. Pp. 1 and 104 act as outside wrappers.

1877

THE MOONSTONE: A Dramatic Story in Three Acts. (Altered from the novel for performance on the stage.) By Wilkie Collins. (This play is not published. It is privately printed for the convenience of the author.) Charles Dickens and Evans, Crystal Palace Press. 1877. 1 vol. Cr. 8vo (4¾ × 7?). Pp. 176, of which (1) to (4) are unnumbered. The rest of the book, being printed on one side of the paper only, is paged (5) to 88. Paper wrappers, printed in black.