W. Heath Robinson (full name William Heath Robinson) was born in Islington, London in May 1872 and became a well renowned artist and cartoonist. His father Thomas as well as his older brothers Charles and Thomas Heath were illustrators and in his early career W. Heath became a book illustrator too.
He illustrated many books including The Arabian Nights, Tales from Shakespeare, Andersen’s Fairy Tales, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Water-Babies as well as those he wrote and illustrated himself – Bill the Minder and The Adventures of Uncle Lubin which is said to have started his later career in the drawing of whimsical elaborate machines to achieve simple objectives which he was best known for.
W. Heath Robinson Book Illustrations
The following books were illustrated by William Heath Robinson and many of their full color illustrations can be found in Wall Art Made Easy: Ready to Frame Vintage W. Heath Robinson Prints Volumes 1 and 2.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1914) – a witty comedy full of romance and fairy magic written by William Shakespeare back in the mid 1590’s. The play is set in and around Athens inhabited by characters from Greek mythology as well as scenes set within a fairytale world of elves and fairies.

The Adventures of Uncle Lubin (1902) – a children’s book written and illustrated by W. Heath Robinson is an imaginative tale of the adventures of Uncle Lubin as he tries to capture his nephew from the clutches of a bag-bird using inventions ranging from an air-ship to a submersible sea-boat.
A Song of the English (1909) – a poem written by Rudyard Kipling first published in the English Illustrated Magazine in 1893. This edition includes six subsidiary poems: The Coastwise Lights, The Song of the Dead, The Deep-Sea Cables, The Song of the Sons, The Song of the Cities and England’s Answer.

Bill the Minder (1912) – written and illustrated by W. Heath Robinson is a series of tales written about a boot cleaner called Bill who became the Minder for the mushroom gatherer Crispin’s family. They meet the unfortunate King of Troy who has been banished from his country. Bill and the children set out on an adventure to restore his throne back to him and meet some very unusual characters along the way.

Collected Verses of Rudyard Kipling (1910)
Old Time Stories (1921) – told by Charles Perrault but originally translated from French by A E Johnson includes such fairy tale classics as Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Little Red Hiding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb and many more.
Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales (1913) – includes fairy tale classics The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, The Real Princess, The Emperors New Clothes, The Ugly Duckling, The Nightingale among others.

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