Annotated bibliography of Disney reference books
Books about Disney comics

ANAF: Portfolio Giorgio Cavazzano published by ANAF; 1995.
This splendid portfolio contains beautiful works by the Italian master of Disney comics as well as an interesting introduction. Nice piece for collectors. The introduction is in Italian.

Barks, Carl: Uncle Scrooge In Color published by Gladstone; 1987.
A nice homage to the wealthiest duck on Earth, published for his 40th birthday. The colors and the choice of stories are good.

Barks, Carl: The Fine Art of Walt Disney's Donald Duck published by Another Rainbow; 1981.
A beautiful book, limited to 1875 copies, that reproduces perfectly the first 122 Duck paintings produced between 1971 and 1976.

Barks, Carl: Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge, His Life and Times published by Celestial Arts; 1981.
The story and comic book stories of a very rich Scottish uncle. It contains all of the best Barks classics, including Christmas on Bear Mountain and Back to the Klondike (full-length version). The book includes one story drawn especially for the occasion: Go Slowly, Sands of Time. A soft-cover version of that book has also been released.

Barks Treasury published by Applewood Books; 1997
Distributed exclusively in the American Disney theme parks. Limited to 1000 copies. Contains 40 of the 75 color sketches Barks made for his 96th birthday.

Barrier, Michael: Carl Barks and the Art of the Comic Book published by Lilien; 1981.
The best biography of Uncle $crooge's (and many other ducks) father. A must have for all $crooge fans.

Barrier, Michael: Carl Barks- Die Biographie published by Brockmann und Reichelt Verlag; 1994.
The translation of Mike Barrier famous American biography of Barks in German, illustrated with new documents.

Becattini, Aberto; Boschi, Luca: Disney Index: La Produzione Sindacata published by Funny Animal Club; 1984.
Written in Italian.

Becattini, Alberto: Disney Index published by Al Fumetto Club; 1990.
A complete catalog of the Disney King Features Syndicate comics. Alberto Becattini is one of the 3 utmost experts on Italian and international Disney comics, the other two being Luca Boschi and Leonardo Gori.

Becattini, Alberto: Disney Index, vol.2 published by Al Fumetto Club; 1994.
The second volume of a fascinating tool for indexers and Disney comic book fans.

Becattini, Alberto: Disney's Comics, la Storia, i Personaggi: 1930-1995 published by Editrice Comic Art; 1995.
Alberto finally decided to publish this amazing history of Disney comics worldwide. An excellent introduction for Italian readers to this tremendous world. That is to say… before joining online the world famous Disney Comics Mailing List.

Becattini, Alberto; Boschi, Luca; Bartolomei, Stefano: Giovan Battista Carpi published by Editrice Comic Art; 1995.
The beautiful, very in-depth biography of one of the kings of Italian Disney Comics by three of the most famous Disney comics historians. Written in Italian.

Becattini, Alberto: Floyd Gottfredson published by Comic Art; 1998.
An excellent book by one of the best Italian Disney historians. Written in Italian.

Becattini, Alberto; Gori, Leonardo; Stajano, Francesco: Don Rosa e il Rinascimento disneyano published by Editrice Comic Art; 1995.
The biography of the man who revived $crooge, 20 years after Barks and is currently considered as the best Disney storyteller in activity. A must have. Written in Italian by three Italian experts, all members of the famous Disney Comics Mailing List (of which Don is also an active participant).

Blitz, Marcia: Walt Disney's The Life of Donald Duck re-published by Applewood Books; 1994 (originally published in 1941).
Presented by Applewood in a hardcover box including a greeting Card from Carl Barks and a CD featuring a chat between Barks and Donald, this nice story book (the only one included in this listing) has acquired a special status, as the auto-proclaimed official biography of Donald Duck. Nice book.

Blum, Geoffrey; Andrae, Thomas: Das Ferne und Vergangene published as special issue 19 by Der Donaldist; 1987.
According to Frank Fabian: "Contains a translation of the article The Far Away and Long Ago, which was originally published in The Carl Barks Library, set 1, volume 1." Written in German.

Blum, Geoffrey: Carl Barks and the Disney Ducks published by Another Rainbow Publishing; 1991.
How the "Duck Man" created his limited edition statues. Strange book, published only to promote Another Rainbow statues; it was sold and not given.

Bohn, Klaus: Das Erika-Fuchs-Buch - Disney deutsche Übersetzerin von Donald Duck und Micky Maus: ein modernes Mosaik published by Verlag Dreidreizehn; 1996.
According to Frank Fabian: "A very complete and very interesting book about the famous German translator of Disney comics Erika Fuchs." Written in German.

Bohn, Klaus: Der Bücherdonald - Die grosse Lesekunde des Donaldismus - Band I published by Bauer Brueder; 1992.
According to Frank Fabian: "A donaldistic bibliography, covering the German and American donaldistic fanzines and monographs." Written in German.

Bohn, Klaus: Der Bücherdonald - Die grosse Lesekunde des Donaldismus - Band II published by Bauer Brueder; 1993.
The second volume of the bibliography. Written in German.

Bohn, Klaus: Duck 2000 Nr.5 - Die grosse Donaldismus-Lesekunde; 1990.
According to Frank Fabian: "The predecessor to Der Bücherdonald, the latter being an enlarged version".Written in German.

Boschi, Luca: The Art of Giorgio Cavazzano published by Lo Scarabeo; 1997.
A fascinating catalog that is also an in-depth biography of one of the best Italian Disney comic masters. The text is great, the illustrations are gorgeous. Written in Italian apart from one piece in English by Frank Stajano.

Boschi, Luca: Walt Disney presenta Pippo, Topolino, Qui Quo Qua, Donald, Daisy published by Disney Libri; 1992-1994.
5 official biographies of our favorite characters (Goofy, Mickey Mouse, Huey Luey and Duey, Donald and Daisy) in Italian which contain wonderful art by comic artists of all countries.

Boshi, Luca; Gori, Leonardo and Sani, Andrea: I Disney Italiani published by Granata; 1990.
Written in Italian, this book is the best ever published about Disney's Italian comic book productions. All the artists, all the characters are described after the history of the creative studios and activities. The authors, including Alberto Becattini who wrote the various indexes at the end of the book, are the utmost authorities in terms of Italian and inernational comics.

Boshi, Luca; Gori, Leonardo and Sani, Andrea: Romano Scarpa published by Alexandro Distribuzioni; 1988.
Written in Italian, this is the biography of one of Disney's most talented Italian comic book artists. See note above about the authors.

Brunoro, Gianni: Pennelli in Aria published by Libreria dell'Immagine; 1994.
A very good little book about Giogio Cavazzano, one of the Italian masters of Disney comics. Written in Italian.

Burzlaff, Otto: Die tollsten Geschichten von Donald Duck - Inhaltsverzeichnis und Register der Sonderhefte seit 1965 - Teil 1 published as special issue 28 by Der Donaldist; 1993.
According to Frank Fabian: "Index to the first issues of Donald Duck Sonderheft, formerly known as Die tollsten Geschichten von Donald Duck. First published in 1967." Written in German.

The Carl Barks Library published by Another Rainbow; 1983 - 1990.
This ten set collection containing 30 books is seen as the ultimate collection of Barks comic book work. Besides lots of articles with background information, it also contains unreleased, rejected and/or unfinished works. Most of Barks' comic book work is published as line-art (b/w), which is how it was drawn. The ultimate reference for Barks fans.

Castagno, Paolo: Il Topolino di Floyd Gottfredson published by Alessandro Tesauro Editore, 1998.
According to Paolo Castagno: "A complete analysis of Gottfredson's works on Mickey Mouse both in Daily strips and Sunday specials complete with all the Italian reprints." Written in Italian.

Castagno, Paolo: L'Opera di Carl Barks su Zio Paperone published by Alessandro Tesauro Editore; 1995.
According to Paolo Castagno: "An index of Barksian stories published in Zio Paperone." Written in Italian.

Castelli, A.; Sala, P.: Guida a Topolino published as a special issue of the fanzine Comic Club 104; 1966.
According to Paolo Castagno: "Index of Topolino Libretto." Written in Italian.

Chalker, Jack L.: An Informal Biography of $crooge Mc. Duck published by The Mirage Press; 1974.
This biography of $crooge is based on Barksian references. It tries to introduce some consistency into The Richest Duck in the World universe. Don Rosa used that book as a source for his Life and Times of $crooge Mc. Duck, even though, he did not follow it blindly. A very interesting text for comic books enthusiasts.

Chendi, Carlo (editor): I Mondi Fantastici di Bottaro published by Mostra Internazionale dei Cartoonists a Cura di Carlo Chendi; 1997.
The only book containing an in-depth biography of one of the Italian Disney comic masters by one of Disney's most prolific writers. Written in Italian. The illustrations are interesting, although not a lot of Disney art is reproduced.

Chendi, Carlo: Dedicato a Carl Barks published by Comic Art; 1994.
A great collection of drawings dedicated to the Grand Duck Master, while he was visiting Europe, by the best Italian artists.

Christmas of '87 published by Alexander Gallery.
Wonderful catalog of the exhibition of Good Housekeeping Disney art held at the Alexander Gallery in December 1987. A project to republish all Good Housekeeping Pages in a single art-book was unfortunately cancelled in 1997.

Diepen, Bruno: Die tollsten Details im zeichnerischen Werk von Carl Barks published as special issue 4 by Der Donaldist; 1980.
A very small book in black and white, written in German that reproduces the best details of Barks' works. For completists.

Diepen, Bruno: Mehr Details aus dem Werk von Carl Barks published as special issue 18 by Der Donaldist; 1986.
The sequel to the former book.

Dorfman, Ariel; Mattelart, Armand: How to read Donald Duck published by International General; 1975.
Did you know that Donald served colonialist and imperialistic purposes ? On a second level study, this book is funny.

Eronen, Matti: Carl Barks' Surviving Comic Book Art self-published; 1994.
A non-illustrated list of the pages of Barks art that survived destruction with a history of how they survived and where they were last seen. A very specialised book for hard-core Barks collectors.

Faeti, A.: In Trappola col Topo - Una Lettura di Mickey Mouse published by Einaudi; 1986.
According to Paolo Castagno: "A sociological analysis of Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. The Best book about Disney comics I ever read!" Written in Italian.

Fossati, Franco: Carl Barks, Cronologia Disney Ragionata 1942-1954 published by Epierre; 1984.
According to Paolo Castagno: "The chronological index of Barks works by one of the most famous Italian experts in Disney comics." Written in Italian.

Fossati, Franco: Carl Barks Guide published by Libreria dell'Immagine; 1992.
The new, completed edition of the index. Complete listing of Barks' stories including non-Disney ones plus all Italian publications.Written in Italian.

Fossati, Franco: Paolino Paperino published by Pirella;1984.
According to Paolo Castagno: "The "biography" of Donald Duck." Written in Italian.

Fossati, Franco: Topolino- Storia del Topo Più Famoso del Mondo published by Gammalibri; 1980.
According to Paolo Castagno: "The "biography" of Mickey Mouse." Written in Italian.

Fossati, Franco: Walt Disney e l'Impero Disneyano published by Editori Riuniti; 1986.
According to Paolo Castagno: "A presentation of the Disney empire." Written in Italian.

Fuchs, Wolfgang J. an others: Carl Barks - Bilder aus Entenhausen published by Württenbergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart and Nationalmuseet Kobenhaven; 1994.
A very nice small exhibition catalog containing reproductions of some of Barks' oil paintings and short articles by well known experts. Written in Danish and German.

Gans, Grobian: Die Ducks - Psychogramm einer Sippe published by Wissenschaftliche Verlagsanstalt zur Pflege Deutschen Sinngutes im Heinz Moos Verlag; 1970. (republished in 1972 as a paperback by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag)
According to Frank Fabian: "This publication marks the beginning of German donaldism. Tries to analyse the psychology  of the Ducks thanks to Barks' stories." Written in German.

Gans, Martin S.: Das wahre Leben des Donald D. published by Kolkhorst Verlag; 1984.
According to Frank Fabian: "Humoristical pseudo-biography of Donald revealing his alleged scandalous life. Not very funny, though. The author's name is a parody of Grobian Gans (see above)." Written in German.

Gisle, Jon: Donaldismen - en muntert-videnskabelig studie over Donald Duck og hans verden; 1973.
The book that coined the terms Donaldism and Donaldist. Written in Norwegian.

Gori, Leonardo; Stajano, Francesco: Floyd Gottfredson published by Comic Art; 1998.
Superb book about the best Disney comic book artist along with Barks. A must have for Disney comics enthusiasts. Written in Italian.

Grote, Johnny A.: Carl Barks Werkverzeichnis der Comics published by Ehapa; 1995.
A huge annoted bibliography of The Duck Master. Written in German.

Grote, Johnny A.: Who's Who in Entenhausen published by Ehapa Comic Collection; 1997.
Written in German by one of the most famous German duck expert.

Hartung, Peter: Manden og anden - en bog om Carl Barks published by Bogfabrikken; 1994.
According to Ole Nielsen: "A shallow biography of Barks. The last third of the books is about Barks visit in Copenhagen." Written in Danish.

Helnwein, Gottfred: Wer Ist Carl Barks published by Neff; 1994.
Fascinating art book about Bark's style and drawings. Written in German but mostly composed of reproductions of barksian art, this work can be of interest even to non-German speakers.

James, L.: Mickey's Drawing Class published by Simon & Shuster; 1983.

Kronborg, Steffen: Andre andalyser - En ny andtologi self-published; 1988.
According to Ole Nielsen: "More of the same. Kronborg is good at revealing the deeper levels of Barks' stories and his almost religious belief in Nature's intervention in human matters." Written in Danish.

Kronborg, Steffen: Carl Barks - andalyser - En andtologi self-published; 1986.
According to Ole Nielsen: "Articles (some of them already published in the fanzine Carl Barks and Co.) analysing themes in Barks' stories." Written in Danish.

Kunzle, David: Carl Barks: Dagobert und Donald Duck -Welteroberung aus Entenperspektive published by Fisher Verlag; 1990.
Written in German.

Lowery, Howard (editor): The Malcolm Willits Collection of Mickey Mouse Paintings by Floyd Gottfredson self-published; 1993.
As there is no book reproducing all Gottfredson paintings (like The Fine Art of Walt Disney's Donald Duck for Barks paintings), this catalog is the closest thing one can find. The art is interesting, some would say beautiful.

Mandry, Michel: Disney Channel published by Hachette Editions n°1; 1986.
This strange book contains some text about Walt and his creation, but its core is a collection of oddly matched comics stories that include among other jewels: The Youth of Donald Duck by Marco Rota and the Youth of Walt Disney. Written in French.

Mandry, Michel: Happy Birthday Mickey ! published by Editions du Chêne; 1984.
The best history ever published of Le Journal de Mickey by its former editor, the ultimate historian of French Disney comics. For non-French speakers the illustrations still make it worthwhile.

Mandry, Michel: Mickey Explore le Temps published by Hachette-Edi-Monde; 1980.
This beautiful "white book" contains the best episodes of the famous French comics series "Mickey Through the Centuries" drawn for more than 25 years by the fantastic French artist Pierre Nicolas (also author of the famous Paris Match cover drawn for Walt's death). The introduction by Michel Mandry in itself makes buying the book a very worthwhile move. Written in French.

Merkl, Ulrich: Barks Scripts - Ein unbekanntes Kapiel im Schaffen von Carl Barks published as special issue 21 by Der Donaldist; 1987.
A nice analysis of the progression of Barks work techniques in the last part of his career, seen through the development of the Junior Woodchucks' story Wailing Whalers that was created to be drawn by other artists. Written in German.

Mezzavilla, Silvano: Giorgio Cavazzano published by Editori del Grifo; 1994.
Another small and very interesting book about one of the grand masters of Italian Disney comics.

Mickey Mouse In Color published by Pantheon; 1988.
The limited edition version contains a vinyl disc with a discussion between Barks and Gottfredson. The way the best Mickey comics stories by Gottfredson are presented in this volume makes it an absolute must have for Disney comics enthusiasts.

Mollica, Vincenzo (editor): I Love Paperino published by Editori del Grifo; 1984.
An hommage to Donald Duck by all of the most famous Italian comic book artists published for the 50th birthday of the Duck. The works are surprising, often extremely entertaining. For completists, though. Written in Italian.

Un Mondo de Paperi - catalogue of the Castel dell'Ovo exhibit;1998.
The catalogue of the huge exhibit taking place from April 29 to June 21 in Naples and featuring a lot of original Disney artwork. I have not seen this catalog yet, but it is said to be a bit short. Written in Italian.

Paolini, Elvio; Marovelli, Piero; Saccomano, Giulio: Introduzione a Paperino: La Fenomenologia Sociale nei Fumetti di Carl Barks published by G.C. Sansone; 1974.
According to Paolo Castagno: "An Italian book very similar to How to read Donald Duck, but with some interesting content, like a Duckburg map, a Barksian character index, etc." Written in Italian.

Reitberger, Reinhold: Walt Disney - In Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten published by Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag; 1979.
According to Frank Fabian: "Part of the Rowohlts Monographien series, which presents short and illustrated biographies of celebrities." Nothing special. Written in German.

Rosa, Don; Cannatella, Lidia (editor): D.U.C.K. published by Disney Libri;1997.
The Italian version of The Life and Times of $crooge Mc. Duck, complete with Don's introductions, covers by Marco Rota and a lot more material that makes this hardcover version of the saga one of the best in the world. The Italian editor really outdid herself on this one.

Rosa Don; Pierrey, Pascal (editor): La Jeunesse de Picsou published by Disney Hachette Presse; 1998.
The French version of The Life of $crooge in one volume, including chapters 6A, 8A and 0. The translations of the many chapters have been harmonized. Not a lot of text outside of the stories themselves.

Rosa, Don: The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck published by Another Rainbow/Gladstone, 1997.
A beautiful edition of the complete saga by the new Duck master. Limited to 1000 copies, each autographed by Don and divided into ten different combinations involving signed books, full-color signed prints and original drawings. The only shortcoming of this book is the introduction by Geoffrey Blum that is a sad collection of mistakes about Rosa's work. This book is a must-have for Rosa enthusiasts, though.

Schmidt, Stefan: Hommage an Floyd Gottfredson published as special issue 27 by Der Donaldist; 1993.
According to Frank Fabian: "The most informative work about Floyd Gottfredson that I know of. Richly illustrated. Very high standard."Written in German.

Spillmann, Klaus: Paul Murry Index self-published.
According to Frank Fabian: "A small introduction on who Paul Murry was, featuring a list of all of his stories published in the US and in Germany."

Spiritelli, Franco (editor): Il Personaggi della Banda Disney published by Fumo di China; 1993.
The excellent catalogue of an exhibit held in Italy in 1993 that includes fascinating interviews with the best Disney comic books artists: Carpi, Scarpa, Cavazzano, Asteriti, Santillo and many others. A must have for Disney comics historians. Written in Italian.

Stechweij, Rob: Barks Boek published by Panda. Paperback; 1977.
Contains a good but far from complete index and the non-Disney Barks-story Porky in the Mounties. Written in Dutch.

Stegelmann, Jakob: Den gode tegner - Om Carl Barks og Anders And published by Aschehoug; 1995.
According to Ole Nielsen: "The ultimate Danish biography of Barks. Thoroughly recommended to all Scandinavians. A lot of te info is about the Burbank days. Includes a photographic reprint of the first Danish edition of the hypnosis gun story from October 1952." Written in Danish.

Strzyz, Klaus; Knigge, Andreas C.: Disney von Innen published by Ullstein Sachbuch; 1988.
A very interesting collection of in-depth Disney interviews (mainly with comics artists) written in German. A very original and interesting work.

Tesauro, Alessandro: Topolino in Italia self-published; 1996.
A rather bland index of Disney stories published in Topolino. Not illustrated. Written in Italian.

Topolino 60 Anni Insieme.
Catalog of the exhibition organized in Italy for Topolino's (equivalent of Mickey Mouse Magazine) 60th Birthday.

Topolino - L'Eroe delle tue Storie published by Elio de Rosa editore; 1999.
Splendid catalog of the 1949 - 1999 Topolino exhibit. Contains some excellent, never seen before documents. Written in Italian.

Van Helden, Wim: Carl Barks en de Mythe van Walt Disney's Donald Duck published as "Stripschrift Special 9" by Vonk/Uitgevers Zeist; 1985.
Contains interview of Barks by Wim Helden and Daan Jippes conducted in the early '80s and a rather complete index of Barks' comic book works. There is also a lot of background information and an interesting selection of art taken from The Carl Barks Library. Written in Dutch.

Von Hagen, Markus: von Maüsen und Enten - Schatzkästlein Entenhausener Poesie published as special issue 30 by Der Donaldist; 1994.
According to Frank Fabian: "Collection of poems, lyrics, etc. from German Disney stories. Some are well known, others less." Written in German.

Worden, Mark: The Carl Barks Checklist; 1980.
Written in German.

Books to come

Andrae, Thomas: Fables of Desire - Carl Barks and the Anti-modernist Disney Comic published by University of Mississippi Press; 1999.
Reported by Magical Moments and Memories (Issue 19, Spring 1998) and confirmed by Donald Ault.

Ault, Donald: Educating the Imagination - The Narative Art of Carl Barks' Disney Comics published by University of Mississippi Press; 1999.
A very intelectual study of Carl Barks' work. Probably worth a good look considering the repute of the author.

Burzlaff, Otto: Die tollsten Geschichten von Donald Duck - Inhaltsverzeichnis und Register der Sonderhefte - Teil 2 published as special issue 37 by Der Donaldist.
Written in German.

Romano Scarpa published as special issue 36 by Der Donaldist.
Written in German.

All the books already published
All the books to come
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 Last updated June 29, 1999.