Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0198662157, Hardcover)

This is the most comprehensive work ever published on the life, work, and influences of Wilkie Collins. Interest in Collins has increased over recent years as his novels have gained popularity and his central role in 19th-century fiction, as a collaborator with writers such as Dickens and the father of the detective novel, has been recognized. The Guide is much more accessible than a biography: entries are arranged alphabetically and fully cross-referenced, and the text is complemented by over 200 illustrations, many of them never before published. Special attention is paid to bibliographical and publishing details.