Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Heath, James (1757-1834)
HEATH, JAMES (1757–1834), engraver, born 19 April 1757, was eldest son of George Heath, a yeoman farmer at Horton in Staffordshire, by his wife, a Miss Hunball. He was first articled as a pupil to the engraver, Joseph Collyer the younger [q. v.] Collyer was an exacting master, and by steady application Heath acquired his great mechanical skill. His earliest engravings were some of the portraits in the collected edition of Horace Walpole's works. He was subsequently employed to engrave Stothard's designs for Harrison's ‘Novelists' Magazine’ and Bell's ‘Poets,’ and the taste and dexterity with which he rendered these small illustrations brought this style of illustration into great popularity. His engravings after Stothard, Smirke, and others, are very numerous, and are to be found in Sharpe's ‘British Classics,’ the ‘Lady's Poetical Magazine,’ Forster's ‘Arabian Nights,’ Glover's ‘Leonidas,’ and many similar editions of popular works. He engraved some of the plates for Boydell's ‘Shakespeare,’ and also in 1802 published a series of illustrations of Shakespeare on his own account. In 1780 he exhibited three engravings at the exhibition of the Society of Artists. In 1791 he was elected an associate engraver of the Royal Academy, and in 1794 was appointed historical engraver to George III, continuing in that post under successive sovereigns until his death. He engraved some large plates, notably ‘The Dead Soldier’ after J. Wright, ‘The Death of Nelson’ after B. West, ‘The Riots in Broad Street, 1780,’ after F. Wheatley, ‘The Death of Major Pierson’ after the picture by J. S. Copley in the National Gallery, ‘Titian's Daughter’ after Titian, ‘The Holy Family’ and ‘The Good Shepherd’ after Murillo, ‘The Holy Family (Orléans)’ after Raphael, &c. He worked first in stipple and afterwards in line, sometimes in conjunction with others, keeping a large number of pupils working under his direction. He re-engraved the existing set of Hogarth's plates, and completed the engraving of Stothard's ‘Canterbury Pilgrims,’ left unfinished by Schiavonetti at his death. He also engraved numerous portraits. Heath amassed a considerable fortune, but lost much property by a fire in 1789. About 1822 he retired from his profession, and his stock of proofs and other engravings was dispersed by auction in that year. He married about 1777 Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Thomas, a Welsh clergyman, by whom he had one son, George Heath, afterwards serjeant-at-law. Charles Heath (1785–1848) [q. v.] was an illegitimate son. Heath died in Great Coram Street, London, on 15 Nov. 1834. A portrait of Heath by Sir Joshua Reynolds is in the collection of Mr. Samuel Parr at Nottingham; another by J. Lonsdale is in the National Portrait Gallery; others, by W. Behnes, L. F. Abbott, and T. George, have been engraved, and a small oval portrait was engraved for the ‘Monthly Mirror’ of 1796. He exhibited in 1834 at the Royal Academy ‘Children playing with a Donkey,’ but it is not stated to have been an engraving.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Dodd's manuscript Hist. of English Engravers (Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 33401); Memoirs of Abraham Raimbach; Sandby's Hist. of the Royal Academy; Pye's Patronage of British Art; Catalogues of the Royal Academy, &c.; private information.]