Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Imison, John
IMISON, JOHN (d. 1788), mechanic and printer, was in business at Manchester in 1783-5 as a clock and watch maker and optician, and also as a printer. Lemoine states that 'among other pursuits he made some progress in the art of letter-founding, and actually printed several small popular novels at Manchester, with woodcuts cut by himself.' He printed 'Drill Husbandry Perfected, by the Rev. James Cooke' (about 1783), ' The History of the Lives, Acts, and Martyrdoms of … Blessed Christians,' with cuts (1785), and a pamphlet on `The Construction and Use of the Barometer or Weather Glass.' His best work was 'The School of Arts, or an Introduction to Useful Knowledge,' 1785. A portion of this was separately issued as 'A Treatise on the 'Mechanical Powers,' London, 1787. Second editions of both came out in 1794, and there were subsequent issues of the 'School of Arts' in 1803, entitled 'Elements of Science and Art,' and in 1807 and 1822. Imison died in London on 16 Aug. 1788.
[Lemoine's Typographical Antiquities, 1813, p.lxxxix; Gent. Mag. August 1788, p. 758; Manchester Mercury, 26 Aug. 1788; Earwaker's Local Gleanings, i. 6, 17, 292, 295; Imison's Works.]