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The Heath Family Engravers |
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The Heath Family Engravers |
The set of books titled "The Heath Family Engravers" features extensive catalogue raisonnés of the work of the Heaths. These three volumes have been meticulously compiled and contain much little known material relating to the book and print publishing trade of the period (1779-1878). The study also includes details of the Heath's relationships with many of the leading British artists, publishers, print dealers and engravers of the day, as well as of their working habits, payment systems and innovative business methods generally.
The Heath family engravers were James Heath ARA (1757-1834), his son Charles Heath (1785-1848), and Charles' two sons Frederick and Alfred. These line engravers constitute in microcosm the rise and ultimate decline over a century in which they worked centrestage in their profession in England, at a time when the so called "British School" of engraving led the world. James Heath, Historical Engraver to King George III, was a much admired and gregarious figure in the close knit artistic and theatrical London of his time, an innovator, with a prodigious output, and a touch regarded as more brilliant than any of his contemporaries.
James' able and immensely hardworking son Charles, who specialised in figure work, especially in the new fashion for book illustration, amongst other activities, acted for many years as impresario for the engraving of the paintings of JMW Turner. He played a leading part in the promotion and production of the many gift books and Annuals which were so popular in the 1830's, and was a pioneer in the use of steel for engraving, to give much longer runs to printing plates than copper, in the developing of security engraving for banknotes, and in the production in 1840 of the world's first postage stamp, the so-called "Penny Black".
Charles' two sons on the other hand, both fine craftsmen, had to be witnesses to the gradual eclipse of line engraving by other less labour-intensive techniques of illustration such as photogravure and lithography, in what was becoming a mass market.
Based on much original research over many years, the careers and fortunes of these three generations of engravers were the subject of Volume 1 (for James Heath) and Volume 2 (for Charles Heath and sons), both books being published in 1993.
Many links are described in these volumes with American artists such as John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart and Benjamin West, who was President of the Royal Academy of which James Heath was an Associate; while books and prints with illustrations by the Heaths were well-known through their agent in Philadelphia, especially the gift books and annuals which found a popular echo in their American imitations of the 1830's to 1850's.
Volume 3 (published in 1999) is a supplement to the first two, but to some extent also constitutes an update. Besides its additional bibliographical content, and a host of contemporary press comments, it also contains a remarkable previously unpublished collection of correspondence, which sheds much light on the operation and relationships of engravers in the period, including a large correspondence from the Heath engravers covering over 30 years, describing to their artistically minded and friendly merchant banker, Dawson Turner, in Great Yarmouth, their most intimate problems in their business and financial affairs.
Amongst other detail, there is a chapter on James Heath's relations with Richard Brinsley Sheridan and the Drury Lane Theatre, and on Charles Heath's special contribution to the art of steel engraving, and the family owned printing house, Perkins Bacon & Co., founded by the great American inventor, Jacob Perkins.
This original in-depth research on the contribution of the Heath family to the development of the printed illustration during the period considers the Heath family engravers as artists in their own right and sets their many outstanding achievements and activities against the literary, artistic and cultural background of their time. It will be of interest to art dealers, art historians, rare book collectors, libraries and museums.
The author John Heath CMG is a retired member of HM Diplomatic Service. He has been researching and collecting the life and works of the Heath family engravers for over twenty years and is a great-great-great-grandson of James Heath.
Copies of these books are still available directly from the author and can be purchased as follows:
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The Heath Family Engravers |
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James Heath |
Price £38.00 plus postage |
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Charles Heath and his sons Frederick and Alfred |
Price £38.00 plus postage |
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A Supplement to Volumes 1 & 2 |
Price £38.00 plus postage |
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Vols 1,2 & 3 |
Set of Three |
Price £90.00 plus postage |
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To order the above books please email the author John Heath
In addition to the above, there are also available for sale a number of duplicates of old books with engravings by Charles and James Heath. For more info please click here.
In March 2002, the Print Quarterly, published a review of The Heath Family Engravers. This review had a large number of errors and John Heath would like to respond as follows:
Comments in the interest of historical accuracy to correct factual mistakes and omissions in the text and Print Quarterly's chronological checklist of Single Issue Prints by James Heath, as revised from pp. 87 to 92 of Print Quarterly Volume XIX No. 1 for March 2002.
By John Heath (author of The Heath Family Engravers 1779-1878)
In 1993 the first two volumes of 'The Heath Family Engravers 1779-1878' were published, followed by a supplemental volume in 1999. As no such work had been produced before, it was greeted with praise from many sources, not least because the volumes contained useful monographs, catalogues and indices of considerable value in the art history of the period. In the absence of contemporary records, a large collection of individual prints and book illustrations had been put together over 35 years.
In March 2002, the Print Quarterly, perhaps the most highly respected of the periodicals in this field in Britain, published a review of the work by David Alexander, a distinguished expert in 18th century prints, and a member of the board. Apart from a few useful comments of his own, and reference to 'good' accounts, and the kind words of earlier reviewers, it was a surprising and rather saddening experience to have to steer one's way through such a maze of inaccuracies and travesties of fact, written as he subsequently explained from the standpoint of readers of the Print Quarterly. He was of course perfectly entitled to his own opinions, but not to the extent of riding roughshod over the facts, diplomatically described by his publisher, David Landau, as 'misunderstandings in art historical accuracy'. Since then there has been a polite correspondence, in which he seems to have been playing for time, to the extent that I have no alternative but to set out the scene in public before his comments have become accepted as art history of their own. In four years of correspondence with him, he has only accepted and apologised in four cases of error, to be described later. Even so, nothing has appeared in the Print Quarterly.
He came to Bath in April 2005, when he excused progress on the grounds that the British Library would have to be consulted, and has not been heard from since. As Alexander was told, my interest in all this is simply to see that art history is properly maintained and not distorted. This is of particular concern for the Print Quarterly, even when only relatively minor incidents may be involved.
There follows a note containing a catalogue of 'misunderstandings'.
The first gross error occurred when Alexander introduced the volumes to this long and definitive work. The actual layout consists of:
Vol I (James Heath). 242 pages of which 56 consist of a monograph and 169 pages of a catalogue. The balance of 17 pages form annexes. In addition there are 10 pages of illustrations, each doubled to make 20.
Vol II (Charles Heath, and his sons Frederick and Alfred). 351 pages, of which 62 consist of monographs and 256 pages of catalogue, with the balance of 33 pages forming annexes and indices. In addition there are 10 pages of illustrations, each doubled to make 20.
Vol III. Supplement of 305 pages, with 10 pages of introduction, 8 Chapters of background material, notably letters, plus 64 pages of catalogue revisions and additions and 16 pages of an index to the monographs in Vols I and II. In addition there are 4 pages of illustrations, each one doubled to make 8.
In short, the total is 908 pages, together with 48 unnumbered pages of illustrations, of which 489 pages are in the form of catalogues. Unfortunately Alexander's page references at the beginning of his review are marred by the complete omission of the figures in Vol II, thus reducing the overall total to 547, a figure which would not exactly impress potential readers of the Print Quarterly.
A second major downplay occurred when Alexander implies in his text that the work is only intended for 'book collectors' and their journals, yet Scolar Press made it abundantly clear that the books would be of interest not only to book collectors, but to 'art dealers, art historians and academics, as well as libraries and museums'.
He goes on to complain that my 'enthusiasm' for the illustrated books had made it difficult for the reader to appreciate that it was the single prints, especially James Heath's, that were most valued. I made it clear that for family reasons I had no intention of embarking on value judgments as my only concern was to establish what their contemporaries thought about them (which is hardly the same thing). In quoting the Art Union's obituary on Charles Heath (Vol I p 8) in which the superior quality of James Heath's Single Prints was clearly stated, it should have been obvious where my preference lay.
He goes on to maintain that there is no evidence as regards James Heath's assistants. This is of course regardless not so much of the quotations in Vol I pp 34-36 (which he mentions) but the amplification in Vol II pp 79-80 where some of those assisting, all referenced, may also have worked to James Heath, who did not retire until 1822.
He comments that the '400' revisions (his calculations, as these include the briefest of indices) suggested in Vol III to be revised into Vol I and II should have led to reproducing completely revised catalogues, instead of references. Excluding indices, the actual total of revisions/addition is 204, a very small minority which it would take a short spell of 2 to 3 hours to transcribe. Alternatively, as all transcriptions are listed chronologically, a quick check with the existing catalogue is all that is necessary.
While not overlooking the full 16 page Index in Chapter 10 of Vol III pp 289 to 305, which covers the monographs in Vols I and II, he still believes that there should be a main Index. He does not seem to be aware that this is the main Index. Where indices might be called for here and there in Vol III, they have been provided for, wherever required.
Alexander states that no distinctions are made in describing whether plates are engraved in etching, stipple or line, and quotes this as an example of poor cataloguing. On the contrary, 14 of the 20 illustrations in Vol I show captions to show which technique was used, and between 1787 and 1802 the catalogue also notes numerous examples of stipple rather than the greater number in line.
In Vol III, the newspaper origin and date of every single relevant press cutting was in fact listed. Where question marks occur, this was only because copies of newspapers such as 'The Morning Chronicle' do not occur in the Colindale archive, so that reliance had to be placed in some cases on the less satisfactory 'V & A Press Cuttings on Artistic Subjects'.
In remarking that I had 'missed most of the reference to the Heaths in recent literature', he does not say what these were. But it should be noted that it was never the purpose of the catalogues to do so. As Vols I and II were published in 1993, some 9 years before Alexander's own review in 2002, there is no way in which this comment makes much sense anyway.
And now perhaps for the worst misunderstanding of all. His review of what should have been a trilogy of volumes was in fact confined to Volume I, the life and times of James Heath. There is barely a mention of any of the other family engravers, active as they were over the century of development which they helped to cover. Alexander does not seem to have realised that this was a history, as seen through the eyes of three generations.
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Date |
No. |
Single Print |
Heath |
Alexander |
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1780 |
1. |
A Shepherd* (T Stothard RA) |
) |
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2. |
A Venus (T Stothard RA) |
) |
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1782 |
3. |
Cymon and Iphigenia* (T Stothard RA) |
) 1782(7) |
- |
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4. |
Fair Rosamond (T Stothard RA) |
) RA Frost Vol. VI |
- |
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1783 |
5. |
Bust of Garrick (T Stothard RA) |
1783 (8) BMPR.C .13 |
No.2 ('1782') |
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1787 |
6. |
Apotheosis of Handel* (Rebecca) |
1787 (1) BL. Mss38072.f.10 |
No.3 |
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7. |
Mrs Jordan* (J Russell RA) |
1787(2) V&A.94.1.4 |
Nos.4/34 (No.34 'Not in Heath') |
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1788 |
8. |
Maria* (ER Burney RA) |
1788(11) BMRPR C.18 |
No.6 |
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9. |
The Peasant* (EF Burney RA) |
1718(13) |
No.7 |
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10. |
John Edwin (T Beach) |
1788(14) Huntington 2887491 pt3 'Heath perfexit' |
No.8 |
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11. |
Three Soldiers* (Salvator Rosa) |
1788(15)(Supplement) III.p.231 |
No.5 Heath U/D(47) |
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1789 |
12. |
Archery at Blackheath (Joseph Slater) |
1789(5) BMRP C.18 |
No.9 (No mention of Heath number) |
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13. |
Adam and Eve in* Paradise (Jean Breughel) |
1789(8) III.p.232 'J Heath and S Middiman' |
No.[-] |
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1790 |
14. |
The Riot in Broad Street* (F Wheatley RA) |
1790(6) |
No.10 (Heath reference unmentioned) |
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15. |
The Old School at Kingswood* |
III.1790(10) pp.234-5 |
- |
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1792 |
16. |
Edward Willes, Justice of the King's Bench (T Gainsborough RA) |
1792(7) |
No.11 |
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17. |
Jupiter and Semele* (Ciprianni) |
) 1792(9) |
No.12 |
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18. |
Diana and Endymion* (Ciprianni) |
) |
No.13 |
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1795 |
19. |
The Dead Soldier* (J Wright 'of Derby') |
1795(4) (proof) |
No.21 (4 May 1797) |
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20. |
'Ode in Honour of the Nuptials of the Prince and Princess of Wales' |
1795(5) |
- |
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21. |
Titian's Daughter* (A Moltena) |
III.1795(7) |
- |
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1796 |
22. |
Mr Bannister Jr. in the charactor of Walter (R Westall RA) |
1796(6) |
No.19 |
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23. |
The Death of Major Pierson* (JS Copley RA) |
1796(8) ill.I. p.66(11) |
No.20 |
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1799 |
24. |
Mr Kemble, actor (G Chinnery) |
1799(8) (Regency Portraits) |
No.22 |
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25. |
Sammuel Johnson* (Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA) |
1794(4) |
- |
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26. |
Sarah Siddons, as the Tragic Muse |
I.p237 Item 355 |
No.23 ('Not in Heath') |
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27. |
Mallet du Pan* (JF Rigaud RA) |
LU/D(41) |
No 24 |
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28. |
Plan of the Line of Volunteers |
- |
No.25 (engraved by Heath and Ashby) |
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1800 |
29. |
George Washington* (Gilbert Stuart) |
1800(7) |
No.26 |
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30. |
Joseph Black MD FRCS* (Sir Henry Raeburn RA) |
1800(6) |
No.27 |
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1800 |
31. |
Alexander Monro* MD FRCS (Sir Henry Raeburn RA) |
1800(5) |
No.28 |
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32. |
Mr Aicken of Drury Lane Theatre (A Devis) |
LU/D(4) |
No.29 |
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1801 |
33. |
Rt Hon Lord Nelson KB (LF Abbott) |
1801(6) (Regency Portraits) |
No.31 |
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34. |
Capt Edw'd Rion (S Shelley) |
- |
No.32 |
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35. |
John Bannister, actor (J Russell RA) |
1802(10) (Regency Portraits) |
No.33 |
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36. |
Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath (Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA) |
1802(9) |
No.35 |
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1803 |
37. |
Charles Long, 1st Barron Farnborough (G Chinnery) |
1803(3) (Regency Portraits) |
No.36 ) |
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1804 |
38. |
Frederick Reynolds*, actor (JR Smith) |
1804(9) |
No.36 ) |
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39. |
Richard Colley Wellesley*, Governor General of India (R Home) |
1804(10) |
No.39 |
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40. |
Erasmus Darwin MD FRS (J Rowlinson) |
1804(11) |
No.40 |
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41. |
Thomas Morton*, actor manager (JR Smith) |
1804(12) |
No.37 |
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42. |
Robert Roy*, Master of the Academy (MA Shee RA) |
1804(13) |
No.38 |
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1805 |
43. |
William Henry West Betty* as Hamlet (J Northcote RA) |
1805(9) |
No.41 |
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1807 |
44. |
Williams Henry West Betty* as Norval in Douglas (J Opie RA) |
1807(8) |
No.42 |
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45. |
William Wilberforce* MP (J Russell RA) |
1807(9) |
No.43 |
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1808 |
46. |
Stephen Kemble, relative of John Kemble (JR Smith) |
1808(6) |
No.44 |
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1809 |
47. |
Lt Col Taylor, 20th Light Dragoons (Abbott) |
- |
No.46 |
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1810 |
48. |
William Markham*, Archbishop of York (Hoppner RA) |
1830(4) |
No.47 |
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1811 |
49. |
Death of Lord Nelson* KB (Benjamin West PRA) |
1811(4) |
No.48 'Heath only' |
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1812 |
50. |
Mr Holman, actor (H Bone) |
1812(6) |
No.49 |
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1813 |
51. |
Rt Hon Robert Blair* of Avontoun, Lord President of the College of Justices in Scotland (Sir Henry Raeburn RA) |
1813(2) |
No.50 |
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52. |
Sir Joseph Radcliffe* (W Owen) |
1813(3) |
No.51 |
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53. |
Lucien Bonaparte (C de Chatillon) |
1813(4) Ill p.226 |
No.52 ) |
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1814 |
54. |
Mr Keen*, actor (S de Wilde) |
1814(4) |
No.52 ) |
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55. |
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (ER Burney RA) |
1814(5) |
No.53 |
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1815 |
56. |
The late Rt Hon William Pitt* High Steward of the University of Cambridge (EF Burney RA) |
1815(3) -16 |
No.54 |
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57. |
Robert, 2nd Earl of Roden*, Auditor General of the Irish Exchequer (J Oldham) |
1815(7) |
No.55 |
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1817 |
58. |
'Pilgrimage to Canterbury'* (T Stothard RA) |
1817(4) |
No.56 |
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1819 |
59. |
David Garrick*, actor (Lousia Lane) |
1819(4) |
No.57 |
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1820 |
60. |
'The Drowned Fisherman'* (R Westall RA) |
1820(2) |
No.58 |
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Date |
No. |
Single Print |
Heath |
Alexander |
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61. |
'Two Goddesses meet, Law and Medecine' (J Flaxman RA) |
U/D(46) BMPR C.13 |
- |
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62. |
George IV |
U/D(21) (Regency Portraits) |
- |
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63. |
George III |
U/D(24) Huntington 89390.F.60 |
- |
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64. |
Francis, Duke of Bridgewater* (mourning print) |
U/D(35) |
- |
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65. |
Mary introducing Jesus to John the Baptist (Rafael) |
U/D(60) 'Jas Heath and S Middiman in aqua fortis fecit' BMPR C.18 |
- |
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66. |
George Brooks* of Twickenham (Woodforde) |
U/D(12) c.1801 |
No.61 'Heath undated' |
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67. |
Mrs Chinnery |
II.p.83 |
No.62 'Not in Heath' |
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1799 |
68. |
Charles Lawson*, Headmaster of Manchester School (WM Craig) |
III.1799(5) p.241 |
No.64 'Not in Heath' |
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U/D |
69. |
Mrs Siddons as Mrs Haller (Sir T Lawrence PRA) |
U/D(55) BMPR C.18 |
c.1799 |
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U/D |
70. |
Revd. William Cooper (R Hancock) |
U/D(36) |
?Post 1793 Heath not mentioned |
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U/D |
71. |
Robert Robinson, Physician to Greenwich Hospital (E Smith) |
- |
No.70 |
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1801 |
72. |
Commodore William Locker* Lieut-Governor of Greenwich Hospital (LF Abbott) |
U/D(54) III.ill.pp.226-227 |
No.30 |
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73. |
John Lloyd of Pound, Devonshire (Gardner) |
- |
No.66 |
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1808 |
74. |
Richard Pennant, Baron Penrhyn (H Thomson) |
- |
No.69 |
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75. |
Revd Thomas Jones*, late Fellow and Tutor of Trinity College, Cambridge (Gardner) |
U/D(16) |
No.45 |
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Date |
No. |
Private Prints, including obituary |
Heath |
Alexander |
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1805 |
76. |
Sir Robert Wigram, Bt.M.P. Lieutenant Colonel of the Sixth Regiment of Loyal London Volunteers (J Smart) |
Copy held unregistered |
- |
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1809 |
77. |
Charles Dignum, singer (A Calcott) |
1809(7) ('aka' Dibdin) |
No.63 'Not in Heath' |
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1810 |
78. |
Andrew Mackay, Keeper of Castlehill Observatory (A Robertson) |
- |
No.67 |
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1814 |
79. |
Lady Jane Baker (Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA) |
U?D(44) BMPR C.18 |
No.60 |
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1821 |
80. |
Robert Bissett LID. (IT Barber) |
1821(2) Huntington |
- |
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Date |
No. |
Prints in the G.W. Smith Special Collection, University of York |
Catalogue reference |
Alexander |
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1795 |
81. |
Nathl Brassey Hallhead MP for Lymington |
18.37.1 |
- |
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1799 |
82. |
William Robertson DD, Historiographer (Reynolds) |
7.7.68 |
- |
|
U/D |
83. |
The Statue of Dr Johnson in St Paul's Cathedral |
18.28.1 |
- |
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1809 |
84. |
St Michael |
18.106.1 |
- |
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U/D |
85. |
Lawrence Sterne (Hopkins) |
18.36.1 |
- |
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1812 |
86. |
Monument to Lt Colonel George Williamson, Commandant of the Royal Military Asylum |
18.19.1 |
- |
Note 1. In the original Alexander checklist, Nos.14, 15-18, 59, 65 and 68 are not repeated above, as they are not strictly identifiable as 'Single Prints'.
Note 2. In Heath Vol Ip.237A, several apparently single prints
by James Heath which are not noted above on the checklists may only
be known from his 'retirement' auction catalogue (Robins, Covent
Garden, June 13/14 1822) as follows:
Item 5/200 Sir Samuel Romilly and Lady Romilly
Item 150 Miss Dance
Item 176 Views in Ireland, engraved for
the late Lord Donegal
Item 190 Miss Edmiston and Mr Elliston, (actors)
Item 193 Mr Young
Item 356 The Earl of Mansfield (after
Sir Joshua Reynolds)
A further small assortment of otherwise apparently unknown engravings
by James Heath was included in the catalogue for Charles Heath's
'assignees' (Southgate May/June 1826) as:
Item 10 Bishop Morley
Item 44 Pan and Syrinx
Item 235/451 Christ bearing His Cross
Item 247 La Cassette. A Spanish Officer
(Home) (James Heath) (Charles Heath) (Vol 1) (Vol 2) (Vol 3) (Old Books for sale)
