Wilkie Collins

Reproduction of the original: Basil by Wilkie Collins

Reproduction of the original: Basil by Wilkie Collins

Reproduction of the original: No Name by Wilkie Collins

William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 - 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Born into the family of painter William Collins in London, he lived with his family in Italy and France as a child and learned French and Italian. He worked as a clerk for a tea merchant. After his first novel, Antonina, was published in 1850, he met Charles Dickens, who became a close friend, mentor and collaborator. Some of Collins's works were first published in Dickens' journals All the Year Round and Household Words and the two collaborated on drama and fiction. Collins published his best known works in the 1860s and achieved financial stability and an international reputation. During that time he began suffering from gout. After taking opium for the pain, he developed an addiction. During the 1870s and 1880s the quality of his writing declined along with his health.

A cargo de Miss Clack, sobrina del difunto Sir John Verinder CAP TULO I Grande es mi deuda con mis queridos padres (ambos ya en el cielo) por los h bitos de orden y regularidad que lograron inculcarme siendo yo muy peque a. En aquella feliz poca ya ida se me ense a tener el cabello bien peinado a toda hora del d a y de la noche y a doblar cada prenda de mi traje pulcramente, de la misma manera y sobre la misma silla, situada sta siempre en el mismo sitio, esto es, a los pies del lecho, antes de retirarme a dormir.

Magdalen Vanstone and her sister Norah learn the true meaning of social stigma in Victorian England only after the traumatic discovery that their dearly loved parents, whose sudden deaths have left them orphans, were not married at the time of their birth. Disinherited by law and brutally ousted from Combe-Raven, the idyllic country estate which has been their peaceful home since childhood, the two young women are left to fend for themselves. While the submissive Norah follows a path of duty and hardship as a governess, her high-spirited and rebellious younger sister has made other decisions. Determined to regain her rightful inheritance at any cost, Magdalen uses her unconventional beauty and dramatic talent in recklessly pursuing her revenge. Aided by the audacious swindler Captain Wragge, she braves a series of trials leading up to the climactic test: can she trade herself in marriage to the man she loathes? Written in the early 1860s, between The Woman in White and The Moonstone, No Name was rejected as immoral by critics of its time, but is today regarded as a novel of outstanding social insight, showing Collins at the height of his powers.

A tale of criminality, almost revolting from its domestic horrors.

When Basil enters into a secret marriage with a young woman with whom he has fallen in love at first sight, he agrees to live apart for one year, seeing his young wife only in the company of a chaperone, and pining for the day when they may be together. But when Basil discovers his spouse in the arms of another, his reaction has tragic and lasting consequences. Be it mystery, romance, drama, comedy, politics, or history, great literature stands the test of time. ClassicJoe proudly brings literary classics to today's digital readers, connecting those who love to read with authors whose work continues to get people talking. Look for other fiction and non-fiction classics from ClassicJoe.

The story is told in eight major parts, called Scenes. Scene One begins in 1846, at Combe-Raven in West Somerset, the country residence of the wealthy Vanstone family: Andrew Vanstone, his wife, and their two daughters. Norah, age 26, is happy and quiet; Magdalen, 18, is beautiful but volatile and willful. They live in peace and contentment, looked after by their governess, Miss Garth. Through amateur theatricals, Magdalen discovers she is a talented actress and falls in love with Frank Clare, the idle but handsome son of a neighbour, who is also in the play. They want to be married, and their fathers agree. Although Frank fails at every career he reluctantly tries, and his father is not wealthy, Magdalen's fortune will easily support the young couple. But before they marry, Mr. Vanstone is killed in a train crash and Mrs. Vanstone dies in childbirth. The girls discover from the lawyer, Mr. Pendril, that their parents have only been married for a few months, and their wedding invalidated the will which left everything to the daughters. Since the daughters are illegitimate, they have no name, no rights, and no property. Combe-Raven and the entire family fortune are inherited by Andrew's older brother, Michael Vanstone, who has been bitterly estranged from the family for many years. He refuses to provide any support for the orphaned young women. With the help only of their governess Miss Garth, they set out to make their own way in the world.

No Name - A Novel is an unchanged, high-quality reprint of the original edition of 1873. Hansebooks is editor of the literature on different topic areas such as research and science, travel and expeditions, cooking and nutrition, medicine, and other genres. As a publisher we focus on the preservation of historical literature. Many works of historical writers and scientists are available today as antiques only. Hansebooks newly publishes these books and contributes to the preservation of literature which has become rare and historical knowledge for the future.

The Frozen Deep is an 1856 play, originally staged as an amateur theatrical, written by Wilkie Collins under the substantial guidance of Charles Dickens. Dickens's hand was so prominent - beside acting in the play for several performances, he added a preface, altered lines, and attended to most of the props and sets - that the principal edition of the play is entitled "Under the Management of Charles Dickens". John C. Eckel wrote: "As usual with a play which passed into rehearsal under Dickens' auspices it came out improved. This was the case with The Frozen Deep. The changes were so numerous that the drama almost may be ascribed to Dickens". Dickens himself took the part of Richard Wardour and was stage-manager during its modest original staging in Dickens's home Tavistock House. The play, however, grew in influence through a series of outside performances, including one before Queen Victoria at the Royal Gallery of Illustration, and a three-performance run at the Manchester Free Trade Hall for the benefit of the Douglas Jerrold Fund to benefit the widow of Dickens's old friend, Douglas Jerrold. There, night after night, everyone - including, by some accounts, the carpenters and the stage-hands - was moved to tears by the play. It also brought Dickens together with Ellen Ternan, an actress he hired to play one of the parts, and for whom he would later leave his wife Catherine. The play remained unpublished until a private printing appeared sometime in 1866.......... William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 - 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and short story writer. His best-known works are The Woman in White (1859), No Name (1862), Armadale (1866) and The Moonstone (1868). The last is considered the first modern English detective novel. Born into the family of painter William Collins in London, he lived with his family in Italy and France as a child and learned French and Italian. He worked as a clerk for a tea merchant. After his first novel, Antonina, was published in 1850, he met Charles Dickens, who became a close friend, mentor and collaborator. Some of Collins's works were first published in Dickens' journals All the Year Round and Household Words and the two collaborated on drama and fiction....... George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 - 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and for his novel Trilby. He was the father of actor Sir Gerald du Maurier and grandfather of writers Angela du Maurier and Dame Daphne du Maurier. He was also the father of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and grandfather of the five boys who inspired J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan..... James Mahony or Mahoney (1810-1879) was a leading nineteenth century Irish artist and engraver. 1] His father was a joiner in Cork, Ireland, and little is known of his early life. He seems to have studied painting and drawing in Rome, travelling in Italy and France until aged 32 when he returned to Cork. He quickly became known for his watercolour paintings, with townscapes from Rome, Venice, Paris, and Rouen....