It's All a Bit Heath Robinson: Re-inventing the First World War

by Lucinda Gosling in association Library, Mary Evans Picture Library (Compilation)

William Heath Robinson remains one of Britain’s best-loved illustrators and has embedded himself into English vernacular, inspiring the phrase ‘it’s all a bit Heath Robinson’ to describe any precarious or unnecessarily complex contraption.Born in London, he originally had ambitions to be a landscape painter, but would establish his artistic reputation as a book illustrator during the genre’s so-called golden age. It was his association with weekly illustrated magazine The Sketch that was to launch and cement his legacy as a humorous artist. Combining a distinctive draughtsmanship with a curious and ingenious mind, the advent of the First World War inspired Heath Robinson to dream up a series of increasingly outlandish and bizarre military inventions with which the opposing armies would try to outwit each other. From the kaiser’s campaigning car or a suggestion for an armoured bayonet curler, to post-war ‘unbullying’ of beef, his cartoons are a fantastically absurd take on wartime technology and home-front life. Sadly, his inventions were rejected by a (fictitious) ‘Inventions Board’, but the charm and eccentricity of his ideas was loved by the public and he remains to this day one of the finest exponents of humorous British art.

144 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2015

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always admired the work of William Heath Robinson. This book provides a good background to his life and why the WW1 cartoons were important. While some now seem strange, most of the cartoons are amusing and worth studying to get the most out of all the detail.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice balance of the cartoons and information on Heath Robinson. My one complaint is that the book is small and on some pages there are two cartoons. It's a pity the book isn't A4 size so the cartoons can be seen in full detail.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting, but most of the cartoons are too small to see the detail.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the drawings of Heath Robinson's to be at times funny and yet there were some strange ones. His work obviously inspired Gilles.