W. Lucas (William Lucas) Collins

William Lucas Collins was a Welsh-born Church of England priest, essayist, and popular classical writer. Sources disagree on the exact birth year, with modern reference entries giving 1815 while some older listings give 1817, but they agree that he died on March 24, 1887. He studied at Rugby School and Jesus College, Oxford, and spent much of his working life in parish posts in Wales and Northamptonshire.

Alongside his church career, he built a reputation as a clear and engaging interpreter of the ancient world. He edited the long-running Ancient Classics for English Readers series for William Blackwood and Sons, and also wrote volumes in it himself, including books on Homer, Virgil, Cicero, and Lucian. His style aimed to open classical literature to non-specialists without losing its drama or human interest.

Collins also moved in literary circles and is noted as a friend of Anthony Trollope. For listeners who enjoy older nonfiction with a storyteller's touch, his work offers a warm Victorian gateway into epic poetry, myth, and classical history.