Wilkie Collins is the only leading Victorian novelist whose letters have not been published. This two-volume edition, edited by William Baker and William Clarke, fills a gaping hole in any assessment of one of the nineteenth century's most loved novelists. It is also extremely timely. Two recent biographies have re-assessed his private life and his literary achievements. His best-known novels, The Women in White and The Moonstone , continue to feature on television, and most of his thirty-odd novels are still in print. This authorised edition reproduces his selection of around 700 key letters of the 2,000 known to be in existence, some recently discovered. Summaries and sources of the remaining letters are provided in an appendix.

'A milestone event...this two-volume collection therefore answers a pressing need...' - Years Work in English Studies 'Fascinating material...will be valuable to both students and historians alike.' - Times Higher Education Supplement 'These handsomely produced volumes will be a necessary addition to any self-respecting nineteenth-century library collection.' - Lyn Pykett, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

WILLIAM BAKER is Professor of English, Department of English, and Professor, University Libraries, at Northern Illinois University. He edits George Eliot - George Henry Lewes Studies and has written articles and books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century British literature and drama. His Letters of George Henry Lewes (2 volumes) was published in 1995 and Sir Walter Scott, Tales of a Grandfather, the History of France was published in 1996.

WILLIAM M CLARKE is the author of The Secret Life of Wilkie Collins and his wife, Faith, is the great grand-daughter of Wilkie Collins. His latest book was The Lost Fortune of the Tsars. He was formerly Financial Editor of The Times and chairman of a London merchant bank. He is the author of over ten books on London's financial markets, prompting former Prime Minister Harold Wilson to comments: `William Clarke is to the City of London what Boswell was to Dr Johnson'.