William Collins (1789–1853) was a Scottish schoolmaster and publisher.

Collins was born near Glasgow in 1789. In 1819 he set up a publishing business, initially selling religious books. He produced the first Collins dictionary in 1824, when he also obtained a licence to publish the Bible. In 1856, the first Collins atlas was published.

In the 20th century, the Collins company moved into fiction including, in 1926, their first novel by Agatha Christie. In 1990, the company was renamed HarperCollins.