He was born in London on and educated by his father until the age of ten, when he attended King's Academy, Chapel Street, Soho for two years.
In 1790 he was articled to a writing engraver named Vincent, but also obtained instruction from John Samuel Agar and Thomas Cheesman, studied in the schools of the Royal Academy, and made copies of Francesco Bartolozzi's tickets.
Publications he worked on include:[1] A set of 56 small plates of natural history engraved by Mitan, perhaps from his own designs, was published in 1822.
Between 1802 and 1805 he exhibited a series of compositions illustrating George Moore's gothic novel Theodosius de Zulvin at the Royal Academy, and in 1818 showed a design for a national memorial of the battle of Waterloo.
A plate of Charles Robert Leslie's 'Anne Page and Slender,' which Mitan left unfinished, was completed by Francis Engleheart and published in 1823.