Robinson, W. Heath (1872-1944), was an English artist, cartoonist, and illustrator. He became best known for his comic drawings that ridiculed the machine age. Many of his imaginative drawings show complicated machines that perform such trivial daily functions as raising one’s hat, shuffling cards, or serving peas. The phrase “a Heath Robinson contraption” gained widespread use as a name for overly complex and impractical devices.
William Heath Robinson was born on May 31, 1872, in London and educated at the Islington School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. He illustrated his first book, Don Quixote, in 1897. His first collection of comic machine drawings was published in a children’s story called The Adventures of Uncle Lubin (1902). His other humorous books include Let’s Laugh: A Book of Humorous Inventions (1939) and Heath Robinson at War (1942). He also illustrated books by other authors, including The Arabian Nights (1899) and The Water Babies (1915). Robinson wrote an autobiography, My Line of Life (1938). He died on Sept. 13, 1944.
