Editing Wilkie Collins (section)

==Early writing career==
[[File:Wilkie Collins 1853.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait by [[Charles Allston Collins]], 1853]]

An instrumental event in his career was an introduction in March 1851 to [[Charles Dickens]] by their friend in common, the painter [[Augustus Egg]]. They became lifelong friends and collaborators. In May of that year, Collins acted with Dickens in [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton|Edward Bulwer-Lytton's]] play ''[[Not So Bad as We Seem, Or, Many Sides to a Character: A Comedy in Five Acts|Not So Bad As We Seem]]''. Among the audience were [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]].{{sfn |Klimaszewski |2011 |pp=33–34}} Collins's story "[[A Terribly Strange Bed]]", his first contribution to Dickens's journal ''[[Household Words]]'', was published in April 1852. In May 1852 he went on tour with Dickens's company of amateur actors, again performing ''Not So Bad As We Seem'', but with a more substantial role.{{sfn |Klimaszewski |2011 |p=37}} 

Collins's novel ''[[Basil (novel)|Basil]]'' was published by Bentley in November. During the writing of ''[[Hide and Seek (Collins novel)|Hide and Seek]]'', in early 1853, Collins suffered what was probably his first attack of [[gout]], a condition from which he would suffer for the rest of his life. He was ill from April to early July. After that he stayed with Dickens in [[Boulogne]] from July to September 1853, then toured Switzerland and Italy with Dickens and Egg from October to December. Collins published ''Hide and Seek'' in June 1854.{{sfn |Klimaszewski |2011 |pp=40–45}}

During this period Collins extended the variety of his writing, publishing articles in [[George Henry Lewes]]'s paper ''[[The Leader (English newspaper)|The Leader]],'' short stories and essays for ''[[Bentley's Miscellany]],'' as well as dramatic criticism and the travel book ''Rambles Beyond Railways.'' (1851)<ref name="Cain"/> His first play, ''The Lighthouse'', was performed by Dickens's theatrical company at [[Tavistock House]], in 1855. His first collection of short stories, ''[[After Dark (short story collection)|After Dark]]'', was published by [[Smith, Elder & Co.|Smith, Elder]] in February 1856. His novel ''A Rogue's Life'' was [[Serial (literature)|serialised]] in ''Household Words'' in March 1856. Around then, Collins began using [[laudanum]] regularly to treat his gout. He became addicted and struggled with that problem later in life.{{sfn |Klimaszewski |2011 |p=52}}

Collins joined the staff of ''Household Words'' in October 1856. In 1856–57 he collaborated closely with Dickens on a play, ''[[The Frozen Deep]]'', first performed in [[Tavistock]]. Collins's novel ''[[The Dead Secret]]'' was serialised in ''Household Words'' from January to June 1857, before being published in volume form by [[Bradbury and Evans]]. Collins's play ''The Lighthouse'' was performed at the [[Olympic Theatre (London)|Olympic Theatre]] in August. His account, ''The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices,'' based on Dickens's and Collins's walking tour in the north of England, was serialised in ''Household Words'' in October 1857. In 1858 Collins collaborated with Dickens and other writers on the story "[[A House to Let]]".{{sfn |Klimaszewski |2011 |pp=53–63}}