An alphabetically arranged and illustrated reference book, Mr Gasson's work, Wilkie Collins - An Illustrated Guide, was written to be a companion for Collins' readers. Mr Gasson became interested in Wilkie Collins in the early 1970s when only The Woman in White and The Moonstone were available in print. Searching through antiquarian bookshops, he started a collection and then, as an optometrist, began to notice that Collins had visual and general health problems. 'If you are looking for these things with an optometric background, you tend to find them,' says Mr Gasson. Although no one is sure when Collins became myopic, all portraits and photographs from 1850 onwards feature him wearing small, oval frames. Apparently he also suffered from rheumatic gout, which frequently affected his eyes, causing him severe pain. In researching his book, Mr Gasson consulted ophthalmologists for suggestions on Collins' ocular and health problems. Also, several of Collins' fictitious characters are depicted with ocular diseases. Mr Gasson is chairman of the Wilkie Collins Society, an international group which corresponds on the Internet and newsletter. It was through the society that Mr Gasson came into contact with an academic who suggested to a commissioning editor at Oxford University Press that they contact him. 'They suggested I write a book on Collins along the lines of one of the University Press series. I said that would be too arduous as I'm not an academic,' says Mr Gasson. The format eventually chosen still took two years to write as Mr Gasson continued to work full-time at his practice in Marylebone, London, near to where Collins himself lived. More information about the book is available on the Internet at www.gasson.demon.co.uk Wilkie Collins - An Illustrated Guide, is published by Oxford University Press, price &\#163;19.99.
