Wilkie Collins, No Name

Stephen Knight (University of Melbourne)

Ed. by Grace Moore, University of Otago
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1862

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel

Resources

After his major success with The Woman in White (1860) Wilkie Collins was elected to the prestigious Athenaeum Club as a person “of distinguished eminence” (Lycett, 2013, 224). In spring 1861 he conceived a new novel, but illness slowed him down and it only began to appear, in serial format, in March 1862. Collins started without a title: Charles Dickens gave him a list of twenty-four suggestions but Collins settled on No Name, not on Dickens’ list. Though the title does suit the troubled heroine, perhaps there was also an element of irony in the choice.

A long sensation novel of nearly 300,000 words, the work is divided into eight “Scenes”, set in different locations, and seven &…

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2312 words

Citation: Knight, Stephen. "No Name". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 October 2022 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=9751, accessed 24 November 2024.]

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