Works of Shakespeare by Charles Theodosius Heath (1820s)

Charles Theodosius Heath (1785 – 1848) was an English engraver, currency and stamp printer, book publisher and illustrator. Heath received training in engraving from his father James, and his first known etching dates from when he was six years old.

It was from his father that he learnt how to produce small plates suitable for book illustration. He was a noted if self-regarding illustrator of the Waverley Novels, and engraved Christ healing the Sick in the Temple, one of Benjamin West’s big scriptural paintings. After Richard Westall, he engraved illustrations to Lord Byron’s poems, published in 1819.

As an engraver, Heath exhibited at the Royal Academy and Suffolk Street Gallery from 1801 to 1825. After 1828 he produced little work of his own, but his studio was productive through his pupils Doo and Watt, and his sons.

Ophelia (Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 7) by Charles Heath MET via

Beatrice and Benedick (Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3) MET via

Queen Margaret and Suffolk (Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part II, Act 3, Scene 2) MET via

Aaron and Tamora (Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Scene 3) MET via

Anne Page, Slender and Simple (Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1, Scene 1) MET via