English printmaker, miniature painter, and illustrator Charles Knight, born around 1743 in London, England, was known for the highly detailed stipple-engraving technique that he developed at the Royal Academy Schools in 1788. He was also recognized as one of the first professional copiers to work his own plates. His commissioned copies included the works of George Romney, Angelica Kauffmann, and Joshua Reynolds, among others. He was also known for creating his own imagery for the theater and literature realms.

Due to the fine nature of his work, it is sometimes posited that Knight may have trained with celebrated engraver Francesco Bartolozzi before attending the Academy, but evidence suggest he was in fact self-taught. After some years supporting himself and his family as a downmarket printmaker, producing among other works the illustrations for Edward and Sylvester Harding's Shakespeare Illustrated (1793) and the Memoirs of Count Grammont (1794), his skill caught the attention of publisher William Dickinson. Knight worked for him from 1784 to 1793 before his reputation allowed for higher market private commissions. 

Knight was a co-founder and president of the short-lived Society of Engravers beginning in 1802, and he trained his daughter, Martha, in the stipple engraving technique. He continued to work until he was in his eighties, when he died in London around 1827.