!two new Don Rosa hardcover books!

[Nils Lid Hjort]

As everyone on this list knows, Don Rosa had his first Duck story
published in 1987. This changed his own life and times and 
led to significant contributions to the life and times of the Ducks,
etc. etc. But what did Don Rosa the artist accomplish prior to 1987,
in his pre-Duck life, so to speak? 

Gazette Bok, a small book publishing group situated comfortably inside
the design-layout-web-publishing-typography firm Gazette of Oslo,
Norway, is in the finishing stages of producing "The Don Rosa Archives";

The Don Rosa Arhives I:   The Pertwillaby Papers (191 pages) 
The Don Rosa Arhives II:  The Adventures of Captain Kentucky (165 pages) 

These beautifully crafted (imVho) hardcover books are in b&w and in 
Rosa's original Kentucky-American. The covers are in colour; the PP
is mostly red, the CK mostly blue. The PP is in "standing" format whereas
the CK is "lying", but with dimensions matched so that they make
a nice pair on any shelf. There are specially written prefaces by
Don Rosa. In addition there are "scholarly" prefaces by Øystein
Sørensen (professor of history at the University of Oslo) for the CK
and by the writer of these lines (professor of mathematical statitics
at the University of Oslo) for the PP. I have also been "acting editor"
for the project. 

More information will be given to this list a little bit later,
including the not uninteresting detail about how to actually buy the books.
There will be a more official "launch" in Oslo in some weeks.

This announcement is therefore a little bit premature, perhaps,
and I had planned to wait a little bit more with this information. 
The reason I nevertheless bring this to your attention now is that 
the news, the existence of the books, will be eagerly broadcast 
to the Norwegian Population tomorrow morning already. Seemingly
I'm being interviewed in P2's "cultural hour" (kulturbeite, radio,
inside the 8:30 - 9:30 hour) then. When I told them that they should 
perhaps wait three weeks, until everything is ready, they simply became 
even more eager, expressing the wish to be "first!" with this piece 
of Wonderful World News. -- This is, therefore, for patient loyal 
list readers, to know that no, you were really the first to know. 

I apologise for the slight but necessary "selling angle" my message
is taking. I judge it however as fully relevant information for the DCML.
Rosa is "our guy", and there are many "Duck overtones" audible to 
the eager ears in Don's pre-Duck work. I might also add that the
PP & CK books are the result of "genuine fan work". The editor
and several of his helpers don't earn a crown on this project. 
Our aim, wish and ambition have simply been to make the very remarkable
pre-Duck work by Don available to the general public. 

Sincerely and bestwishingly yours, 

Nils Lid Hjort