1824

William Wilkie Collins born January 8 at 11 New Cavendish Street, Borough of St. Marylebone, the elder son of the painter William Collins. Sir David Wilkie stands as godfather.

1833

At this time Willie presumably a resident pupil at Maida Hill Academy.

1838

September, family departs for Italy.

1838

August, family returns from Italy. Willie attends a private school in Highbury.

1841

Willie apprenticed to Mr. E. Antrobus, principal partner in Antrobus & Company, a large firm of tea merchants.

1842

Summer, a journey to Scotland with his father, with a visit to Edinburgh and the Shetland Islands.

1843

August, "The Last Stagecoachman" appears in The Illuminated Magazine, Wilkie's first publication under his own name.

1844

August and September, Wilkie's first journey to Paris, with Charles Ward.

1846

Willie released by his father from Mr. Antrobus' company. May, Willie is entered as a law student on the rolls of Lincoln's Inn.

1847

February, the death of William Collins.

1848

The publication of Wilkie's first book, The Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, Esq., R. A.

1849

Willie in Paris, finishing Antonina; exhibits a landscape at the Royal Academy.

1850

Antonina; or the Fall of Rome published, his first novel February, A Court Duel produced at Miss Kelly's Theatre. Wilkie takes a walking trip to Cornwall with Henry Brandling, as background for a travel book.

1851

Rambles Beyond Railways. March, Wilkie meets Dickens;plays a part in the amateur theatrical Not so Bad as We Seem.

1852

Mr. Wray's Cash Box; Basil: a Story of Modern Life. Willie on tour with Dickens' Splendid Strollers.

1853

Autumn, Wilkie journeys to Switzerland and Italy with Dickens and Augustus Egg.

1854

Hide and Seek.

1855

June, The Lighthouse produced at Tavistock House. 1856

After Dark. November, Willie becomes an editor of Household Words. December, publication of The Wreck of the Golden Mary, Wilkie's first collaboration with Dickens. Early signs of physical deterioration.

1857

The Dead Secret. January, The Frozen Deep produced at Tavistock House. August, The Lighthouse produced at the Olympic Theatre. September, Willie travels with Dickens through northern England.

1858

October, The Red Vial produced at the Olympic Theatre.

1859

The Queen of Hearts. Willie's liaison with Caroline Elizabeth Graves.

1860

The Woman in White.

1860

The Woman in White.

1862

No Name.

1863

My Miscellanies. Willie resigns as an editor of All the Year Round, successor to Household Words.

1866

Armadale. October, The Frozen Deep produced at the Olympic Theater.

1867

December, No Thoroughfare, the last collaboration of Collins and Dickens, published in All the Year Round; an adaptation of it produced at the Adelphi Theatre.

1868

The Moonstone. January, the death of Willie's mother. Caroline Graves marries Joseph Charles Clow, and Willie's liais with Martha Rudd, who becomes the mother of his three children, begins presumably at this time; by the early 1870's, Caroline is again living with Willie.

1869

March, Black and White produced at the Adelphi Theatre. July, Wilkie's first child, Marian, is born.

1870

Man and Wife.

1871

May, Willie's second child, Harriet Constance, is born. June, No Name produced at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York. October, The Woman in White produced at the Olympic Theatre.

1872

Poor Miss Finch.

1873

The New Magdalen; also Miss or Airs? and Other Stories in Outline. February, Man and Wife produced at the Prince of Wales's Theatre. April, the death of Charles Collins, Wilkie's brother. May, The New Magdalen produced at the Olympic Theatre. Wilkie begins readings in the United States and Canada.

1874

The Frozen Deep and Other Tales. Wilkie returns from the United States. December, the third child, William Charles, is born.

1875

The Law and the Lady.

1876

The Two Destinies. April, Miss Gwilt produced at Globe Theatre.

1877

September, The Moonstone produced at the Olympic Theatre.

1879

The Haunted Hotel, a Mystery of Modern Venice; to which is added My Lady's Money; also The Fallen Leaves: First Series.

1880

Jezebel's Daughter.

1881

The Black Robe.

1883

Heart and Science. June, Rank and Riches produced at the Adelphi Theatre.

1884

I Say No.

1886

The Evil Genius and The Guilty River.

1887

Little Novels.

1889

The Legacy of Cain. September 23, Wilkie Collins dies at 82 Wimpole Street; buried at Kensal Green.

1990

Blind Love (completed by Walter Besant). The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices and Other Stories (early narratives by Collins and Dickens).

(This extract is taken from William H. Marshall, Wilkie Collins [New York: Twayne Publishers, 1970])

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