Charles Heath

Charles Theodosius Heath (1 March 1785 – 18 November 1848) was a British engraver, currency and stamp printer, book publisher and illustrator.

When he was sued by the publisher, John Murray, in 1826, as a result of having made and kept such impressions, he relied on that supposed custom, but, in 1830, a jury denied its existence.

Then, in 1831, the judges of the Court of King's Bench held that his conduct had been unlawful at common law, though not a breach of the Prints Copyright Act 1777.

[12] Heath was successful in business, with some serious difficulties, but in the 1840s encountered cash flow problems, and sold stock from his back catalogue to stay afloat.

[1] 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.

[17] As did his competitor Edward Finden, Heath outsourced work to a substantial group of engravers into the 1830s and 1840s, and employed a production line technique with division of labour.

This collection has been considered a central part of Turner's opus, by Andrew Wilton, but in business terms was not a great success in its time.

Two of their sons, Frederick (1810–1878) and Alfred (1812–1896), were engravers and another, Henry Charles Heath (1829–1898), was a miniature painter who portrayed Queen Victoria and other members of the royal family.