The Life and Works of Wilkie Collins

15 Points Per Correct Answer - No time limit  

1. What was the occupation of Wilkie's father, William Collins? Artist Merchant Lawyer Doctor

2. What was Wilkie Collins' first job after leaving school at the age of seventeen? Lawyer at Lincoln's Inn Court Clerk to a firm of tea merchants Cabinet maker's apprentice Bookseller's assistant

3. What was the title of Wilkie Collins' first published book? Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, Esq, RA Rambles Beyond Railways Antonina, or the Fall of Rome The Law and The Lady

4. How many times was Wilkie Collins married? Once Three times Twice Never

5. From what illness did Collins suffer throughout most of his adult life? Haemophilia Rheumatic gout Diabetes Schizophrenia

6. Which other 19th century novelist was a close friend of Wilkie Collins, collaborating with him on several short stories and plays? William Makepeace Thackeray Thomas Hardy Charles Dickens Lewis Carroll

7. Which of Collins' books, featuring the private detective Sergeant Cuff, was famously described by T.S. Eliot as "the first, the longest and the best of modern English detective novels"? Armadale The Haunted Hotel The Moonstone The Black Robe

8. Which Wilkie Collins novel, often considered to be his greatest work, includes among its characters a scheming Italian count, a secretive baronet, a poor drawing master and a mysterious woman who has escaped from an asylum? Blind Love The Evil Genius The Queen of Hearts The Woman in White

9. In 1862 the publisher Sampson Low paid Collins £3,000 for the rights to his latest novel - a record amount at the time. Which novel was this? The Guilty River The Moonstone The Dead Secret No Name

10. In which year did Wilkie Collins die, several months after suffering a stroke? 1876 1889 1865 1901