AceShowbiz - A new John Lennon box set featuring remastered and unreleased tracks from his Imagine recording sessions is to be released just ahead of what would have been the musician's 78th Birthday.

The six-disc John Lennon: Imagine: The Ultimate Collection, will be available from 5 October, days before the late Beatles' birthday.

The remixed and remastered 140-track collection, which has been fully authorised by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono, will feature rare, unheard demos, outtakes, and films from the making of the classic 1971 album.

"This is the first time that this iconic album has been explored and presented so completely," a press release reads. "It's a long-overdue and fitting tribute to one of the most important songs, albums and creative collaborations of the 20th century.

"John & Yoko's message is as universal and pertinent today as it was when the album was created and arguably needed more now than ever. This new edition takes listeners on an incredibly personal journey through the entire songwriting and recording process - from the very first writing and demo sessions at John's home studio at Tittenhurst Park through to the final co-production with Phil Spector - providing a remarkable testament of the lives of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in their own words."

In a book accompanying the box set, Yoko writes: "Imagine was created with immense love and concern for the children of the world. I hope you enjoy it."

The 1988 film Imagine: John Lennon and a 2000 documentary, Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine, will also be re-released, while Ono's new book, Imagine John Yoko, will be published on Lennon's actual birthday, October 09.