WILLIAM BAKER is Presidential Research Professor, Professor of English and Professor, University Libraries, at Northern Illinois University, USA. He edits George Eliot - George Henry Lewes Studies and co-edits the Year's Work in English Studies. He has authored and edited more than twenty books, including The Public Face of Wilkie Collins: The Collected Letters (2005).

General Editor's Preface Introduction and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Chronology Principal Sources Consulted Index of Works by Wilkie Collins Index of People Index of Places

This book builds on a critical and scholarly revival of interest in Collins. Baker draws upon biographical revelations and the recent publication of Collins's letters to provide a unique insight into both the man and the writer. The volume will appeal to all students of Collins and those with an interest in the life of Nineteenth-century England.