In researching the novel, Collins primarily drew on texts such as Charles William King's The Natural History of Precious Stones and Gems and of the Precious Metals (1865), Sir David Baird's autobiography and James Talboys Wheeler's The History of India (1867).[2] As well as this, he consulted various explorers to provide him first-hand information about Indian culture in order to increase the veracity of his book. At this early stage, the book's title was The Serpent's Eye.[3]
The final novel was serialised in the periodical All the Year Round from 4 January to 8 August 1868, as well as simultaneously in the American publication Harper's Magazine. This period was affected by several difficulties in Collins' life, however. His mother, Harriet Collins, died on the 19th March 1868, and his presence at her bedside caused the novel to fall behind schedule. He also began to suffer a painful attack of gout, which he described in a preface to the 1871 edition as "the bitterest affliction of my life and the severest illness from which I have ever suffered".[4] To dull the pain, Collins took large amounts of laudanum, resulting in portions of the novel to be written in a drug-induced haze. He would later comment that he did not recall writing these passages.[3] Considering the substantial role the memory-altering effects of opium have in the plot of the novel, this seems significant.
The Moonstone was eventually published in book form by William Tinsley on the 16 July 1868; it was dedicated to his mother.
