WC
was first taught at home by his mother
, a former governess. His later institutional schooling was interrupted by a two-year period in Italy and France, where he became fluent in French and Italian.
Peters, Catherine. The King of Inventors: A Life of Wilkie Collins. Minerva (imprint of Octopus), 1992.
49
Matthew, Henry Colin Gray et al., editors. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/.