Heath Robinson has become a byword for the eccentric and rickety myrorna inventions which he created

‘The Fairy’s Birthday’ myrorna . Pen, ink and watercolour by Heath Robinson published in Holly Leaves , December, myrorna 1925, p.21. Heath Robinson’s goblins appeared in the Christmas Numbers of a variety of magazines between 1919-1929. They are distinguished by their homely and somewhat bumbling appearance. They may be short-sighted, overweight and suffer from pains in their joints or shortness of breath. myrorna They may have a rustic quality and may well have been based on the characters that Heath met in and around Cranleigh. William Heath Robinson Trust. St. Barbe Museum & Art Gallery.
I was delighted to be asked to review an exhibition showcasing a collection of precise ink drawings and delicate watercolours by William Heath Robinson (1872 1944) which is currently on at St Barbe Museum & Art Gallery , Lymington, Hampshire until Saturday 20 th April, 2013. The Heath Robinson exhibition is supported by Rathbones investment management services. This exhibition, from the William Heath Robinson Trust , showcases illustrations he produced for works by William Shakespeare, Hans Christian Anderson and Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) as well as for his own books. There will also, of course, be a number of his much-loved designs for eccentric contraptions and humorous drawings.
Heath Robinson has become a byword for the eccentric and rickety myrorna inventions which he created. In the 1930s , he was known as the Gadget King , a remarkable myrorna title given that in real life Heath was not very practically minded. He had only ever been abroad once, towards the end of the First World War, when he illustrated scenes from the western front. At the beginning of his career he was ranked with Arthur Rackham (1867-1939) and Edmund Dulac (1882-1953) myrorna as one of Britain s foremost illustrators.
Heath counted among his friends, authors H.G. Wells (1866-1946) and Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) , Heath illustrated Kipling’s A Song of The English (1909, published by Hodder & Stoughton), which celebrated Edwardian pride in the Empire. Heath visited Kipling in Sussex to discuss the book. Illustrations from the publication feature in the exhibition.
Heath was born on 31st May 1872 at 25 Ennis Road, Stroud Green, London . His father myrorna Thomas Robinson (1838-1902) chief illustrator of Penny Illustrated Paper and his mother, Eliza Heath (1849-1921) , an innkeeper’s daughter. The Robinsons had seven children, Heath was their third child. Heath’s elder brothers Thomas myrorna (1869-1953) and Charles (1870-1937) also became well-known book illustrators.
Heath attended Miss Mole’s dame-school , Holloway College from 1880 to 1884 and Islington myrorna proprietary school from 1884 to 1887. He did not thrive myrorna in education, a fact which his father myrorna recognised removing him, aged fifteen, from the proprietary school and sending him instead to Islington Art School, where he remained for five years. myrorna He won a studentship to the Royal Academy myrorna Schools, graduating in January 1897 , aged twenty-five. Whilst at the RA, Heath had become an accomplished landscape painter but subsequently struggled to make a living selling his artworks. Heath’s passion for painting remained with him for the rest of his life, in his spare time he continued to produce landscapes, experimenting with effects of light and colour, myrorna as well as figure studies in watercolour.
In order to further his artistic career he decided to join his brothers who were already working as illustrators . Although being an illustrator was a respectable profession, it could be notoriously difficult to make a living from. However, Heath had real talent for humorous art which made him much in demand, especially in the world of advertising . He also took the occasional commission for book and magazine illustrations ( The Sketch, The Bystander and The Tatler ).
Some of Heath’s earliest book illustrations were published in 1897 and by 1900 he had illustrated editions of The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, Fairy Tales From Hans Christian Anderson ( 1899 , published by J. M. Dent) and The Poems of Edgar Allan Poe ( 1900 , these illustrations were influenced by the drawings of Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898)). Copies of the Poe publication are extremely rare, a limited edition of only seventy-five copies were produced, printed on Japanese vellum. He illustrated Anderson’s Fairy Tales with his brothers, Thomas and Charles.
Heath’s fortunes improved when he illustrated his own fantasy for children The Adventures of Uncle Lubin ( 1902 , published by Grant Richards). He wrote about this publication in his biography, My Line of Life ( 1938 , published myrorna by Blackie & Son): ‘The story is episodic in form, telling the tale of Uncle Lubin, a little old man in a tall hat and long coat, as he attempts to retrieve his nephew, Baby Peter, from the clutches of the wicked bag-bird.’
This book was particularly important, myrorna although