Alexander Pollack Watt (1834-1914) was born in Bridgeton, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Little is recorded of his childhood. He married Roberta (Bertha) Ferrier Strachan, or Strahan (1844/5–1908) in 1866 and was at that time working as a warehouseman. In around 1869 he joined Alexander Strahan as clerk, reader of manuscripts, and head of advertising, becoming a partner in Strahan & Co. Ltd. in 1876.

His work as a literary agent appears to begin in 1875 when a friend asked him to negotiate a contract with a London publishing company. The London Post Office Directory lists him as a literary agent in 1881. His business went from strength to strength and the A. P. Watt literary agency became A. P. Watt & Son in 1892 when Alexander Strahan Watt joined the business. Two of his other sons would also join in later years. Wilkie Collins and A. P. Watt began corresponding in December 1881 and Collins would rely on Watt for advice throughout the 1880s. Watt died in 1914.

(William) Wilkie Collins was born on 8 January 1824 in London. His family spent time in France and Italy in 1836-1838 before Collins returned to England to board at a school at 39 Highbury Place, London run by the Reverend Henry Cole. Collins's first job was as a clerk for Edward Antrobus, a tea merchant on the Strand in London. He enrolled as a student of Lincoln's Inn and although he was called to the bar in 1851, he never practised law.

By the 1840s he was writing seriously and his first book was published in 1848 – ‘Memoirs of the Life of William Collins, Esq., RA’. In 1851 Collins met Charles Dickens and they were to remain lifelong friends. From 1859 to his death (bar a break of 2 years) he lived with Caroline Elizabeth Graves, née Compton (1829–1895) and her daughter Harriet (later Bartley) who would also serve as his amenuensis. He also had 3 daughters with Martha Rudd (1845–1919).

Among his most famous works were ‘The Woman in White’ (1860), ‘No Name’ (1862), ‘Armadale’ (1866), and ‘The Moonstone’ (1868). He died on 23 September 1889 at home and was buried in Kensal Green cemetery, London.