Although Wilkie Collins was one of the most popular novelists of his day, his reputation now rests on the novels "The Woman in White" and "The Moonstone." An expert in mystery, suspense and crime, he is often regarded as the inventor of the detective story.
The eldest son of the landscape artist William Collins RA, Wilkie Collins was born in London, Marylebone in 1824. He came from a family of artists. His brother Charles Allston Collins was a close friend of the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood - particularly John Everett Millais and Holman Hunt. Though never a full member he exhibited twelve pictures in the Royal Academy and made his living for some years by painting.
Wilkie's father William Collins RA became an associate member of the Royal Academy in 1814 and a full member in 1820. …
