To form an image with high printing density and high resolution at the time of high speed printing in a thermal transfer recording type thermal head for thermally transferring an ink applied on a transfer film onto an image receiving paper.

The thermal head 20 comprises a plurality of heat generating resistors arranged on a straight line, and a driving circuit 23 for controlling the heat generating temperature of the heat generating resistors by controlling the voltage to be applied to the plurality of the heat generating resistors. The heat generating resistors are provided by connecting a first heat generating resistor 21, and a second heat generating resistor 22 in series with a predetermined interval. Consequently, since a transfer film can be preheated by the first heat generating resistor 21 so that the preheated ink of the transfer film can be transferred thermally onto an image receiving paper by the second heat generating resistor 22, an image can be formed with high printing density and high resolution at the time of high speed printing.