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suspects, correctly, that
Scrooge would use the information mainly to enrich himself, as he has recently done by acquiring the entire log books of the 16th century Spanish fleet to find lost treasures. Scrooge tells the nephews that he would like to find the Library of Alexandria for the same purpose. The head of The Junior Woodchucks organization agrees to sponsor Scrooge's trip in the name of science as well as lend out General Snozzie, the Woodchucks bloodhound. Scrooge and the nephews set out to find the lost library, leaving behind Donald totally oblivious to the events as he sits constantly glued to the
629:, the founder of the Junior Woodchucks. The very volume that was on display in the Woodchuck Museum at the beginning of the story, it was used as the framework for the Junior Woodchuck's Guidebook, the only one book in the world Scrooge cannot buy. This not only explains why the Guidebook facilitated them to follow the trail of the Lost Library all over the world with its enormous knowledge base, but also the fact the Junior Woodchuck's logo, based on the letters J and two Ws, looks uncannily like the inverted Ibis
22:
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of wisdom and writing. An inscription on a metal plate by the last survivor of
Drakeborough tells how he, on Drake's orders, had the library condensed into one single volume with every information no other surviving book in the world included. As the Lost Library's last guardian, he had this one book
820:
was about to take over publishing Disney's classic characters starting
September, 2009). Again, original art by Rosa was used for the cover, however the artwork used for the 2008 reprint had been initially made by Rosa not specifically as cover art but as part of a series of collectibles related to
737:
where in 1902 the first three Junior
Woodchucks are expelled from their former headquarter, the ruins of Fort Duckburg recently bought by Scrooge. As the boyscouts walk down Killmotor Hill, along with some JWC pennants they carry a large, old volume with the Iris Emblem of the Guardians of the Lost
675:
The exact quote found in "Guardians of the Lost
Library", "The city was founded by Alexander the Great in the fourth century B. C. to be the capital of his empire!" is a bit ambiguous, meaning either that it was Alexander's direct personal intention or that it was about to happen independently of
636:
Later on, Scrooge comments on how depressed he is about not getting the books he has traveled all over the globe for, until the boys remind him that he would have had to turn the library over to
Alexandria. Scrooge gets excited about how much money he saved on the fine he would have had to pay
364:
Scrooge McDuck is also there to get a copy of the
Guidebook, which he knows contains an enormous wealth of information. However, the scoutmaster refuses, on the regulation that McDuck is too old to join the organization, and only members are allowed to read its guidebook. Also the scoutmaster
637:
otherwise for 1,000,000 library scrolls each overdue for 2,000 years, and Donald complains about the noise drowning out the TV, muttering "Cripes! They're still going on about their stupid library! As if messing with books was as interesting as watching TV! Hah! That'll be the day!"
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sent a bookdealer named
Cristobal Colon in 1484 to buy these 1,000 volumes, but Colon never turned the books over to the Medici family. When Scrooge and the nephews find out that the English name of this bookdealer-turned sailor happens to be
380:, where they find an underground chamber with a million bronze tubes containing the original scrolls of the Library of Alexandria. Unfortunately, it turns out that the scrolls have long crumbled to dust.
618:
sealed into this rat-proof metal box. Scrooge is triumphant that the unique essence of the library seems to have survived after all, but upon opening the box he is deeply frustrated to find it empty.
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in 2004. While the 2008 reprint featured a superior printing quality and the 2008 cover was shaded as usual with North
American Disney comics, with the reprinted story itself Gemstone replaced
741:
As the condensed book passed on by the last survivor of
Drakeborough and found by Clinton Coot is the framework for the first edition of the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook, in Rosa's later story
747:(1995), the Junior Woodchucks intend to raise funds for excavations at the site of Cleopatra's hidden library in Egypt before it was brought to Byzantium. So they organize a raffle and
384:
had however founded a special organization, "The Guardians of the Great Library", to protect the unique book collection. Still in operation centuries later, the Guardians had extensive
583:, founding Fort Drake Borough which later became Duckburg, for the sole purpose of burying the library below the fort, on Killmotor Hill where Scrooge built his Money Bin in 1902 (see
539:(where they encounter Donald still in front of the TV, making condescending remarks about their passion for "some dusty old library books") to search Scrooge's above-mentioned Spanish
242:
as "possibly the greatest comic book story of all time". Although afraid at the time of its creation of cramming too many historical details into the story, Rosa himself mentions in
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from the first Junior Woodchucks. The nephews are particularly enthusiastic about an old, worn, massive volume that is the oldest known copy of the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook.
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524:, they are forced to decipher Columbus' private notes hand-written in a secret, unknown code by means of the Woodchuck Guidebook, to find out Columbus had the library moved to
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in 1993, one year prior to its first edition in the original English). Rosa figured that he would honor the written word best by sending the Ducks on an epic quest for the
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in 1439, the rotting books had been saved in their entirety by making their first typeset copy "of about 1,000 volumes", with each typeset book containing 10 manuscripts.
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to it upon Marco's return. The Venice Library was lost in 1485 during the collapse of the abbey's bell tower, but following the invention of movable type printing by
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However, in the middle of the room stands a metal case, with the emblem of the Guardians of the Lost Library our heroes first saw in Egypt: an
248:#383 (November, 2008) that in fan mail he receives to this day, "Guardians of the Lost Library" to his own surprise is often referred to as
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797:#27, July, 1994. Compared to European prints, this original English-language edition was of a poor quality where on a number of pages the
58:
423:" added to them over time. However, the entire collection finally perished in a fire. Yet the contents survived, since for centuries the
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not being published anymore. That was true during the time this story was first published but it was mainly used as an inside joke.
105:
434:(with each hand-written book holding 10 original scrolls). This Byzantine Library of manuscripts was however stolen in 1204 in the
343:. And what could be better than for the key to tracing the Library around the world be that most famous mythical book of all - the
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In the process, it was easy to show how books have recorded and even inspired the advancements of science and art through the ages
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had officially declared 1993 to be "The Year of The Book" in order to promote reading (as the story was published in Norway and
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The nephews stitch the remaining puzzle together: the British didn't find the library when they reoccupied Drakeborough, but
250:"'the best Rosa story' or 'the best Duck story' or even 'the best comic book story' (?!!) that fans say they've ever read."
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Library with them. One of the Junior Woodchucks says "Someday we've just got to make pocket-size copies of this monster!"
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Hurrying into old caves and bricked gangways Scrooge never explored before below the Bin, they find a large
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and Christopher Columbus in "Guardians of the Lost Library" are revisited in this story as well.
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was the capital of Alexander's empire, even though Alexandria became the capital of the
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The story contains at least one potential historical error: It apparently claims that
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787:#383, November 2008, "Guardians of the Lost Library" – original cover art by Don Rosa
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were first used in this story but it was not revealed that they were the fathers of
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printing plates had been misaligned resulting in more than obvious color fringing.
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to find out whether the library had ever been removed from the island. Apparently,
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accounts dating 600 BCE of rich new lands beyond the Western ocean in the books,
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Donald Duck and his nephews go to the new Woodchuck Museum to see the exhibit on
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full of old books. On closer inspection, only the covers are left, since the
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to be the capital of his empire. Actually, he built it to be the capital of
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his stories that had been originally published by French Disney magazine
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The story was eventually re-published at a higher printing quality in
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in 1498, far from the reach of the Medici and the Spanish King, but
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copies made of the contents of the library, which were shipped to
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Original cover of "Guardians of the Lost Library". Art by Don Rosa
725:"Guardians of the Lost Library" was later referenced in Part 10:
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Rosa created "Guardians of the Lost Library" at the request of
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for 800 years" and had "the books from the great libraries of
270:. This story was Don Rosa's first use of General Snozzie, the
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513:, Scrooge is pacing out the door, "already halfway across
477:, paying back the library by adding the Great Books from
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on the Don Rosa collectible artwork first published in
791:"Guardians of the Lost Library" was first published in
892:#385, February 2004, and later used for the cover of
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Guardians of the Lost Library: Commentary by Don Rosa
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had copied them into the modern technology of 10,000
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555:in 1535, where beginning in 1551, the scholars at
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369:, currently holding the occupation of Scrooge's
286:#1993-42; the first American publication was in
1024:Cultural depictions of Ferdinand II of Aragon
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547:had it moved to his new capital, modern-day
280:The story was first published in the Danish
974:Cultural depictions of Christopher Columbus
969:Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great
505:and that Columbus's private library is in
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984:Cultural depictions of Johannes Gutenberg
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
1004:Cultural depictions of Francisco Pizarro
994:Cultural depictions of Leonardo da Vinci
325:"could show the evolution of books from
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759:from Barks's eponymous story, allowing
453:In Venice, these books were kept in an
668:under Alexander's immediate successor
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535:Scrooge and the nephews hurry back to
457:whose library henceforth "sparked the
396:around 400 AD, to become known as the
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42:Please improve this article by adding
944:Ancient Alexandria in art and culture
598:pages turn out to have been eaten by
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979:Cultural depictions of Francis Drake
734:The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
999:Cultural depictions of Michelangelo
989:Cultural depictions of Kublai Khan
337:volumes on up to the present day.
304:-based, European Disney publisher
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1014:Depictions of Cleopatra in comics
1009:Cultural depictions of Marco Polo
859:, #383, November, 2008, pp. 31-33
680:Disney and in-universe references
676:whatever Alexander had intended.
473:and his father to journey to the
559:added "all the knowledge of the
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121:"Guardians of the Lost Library"
55:"Guardians of the Lost Library"
934:Donald Duck comics by Don Rosa
763:to resume his plans of owning
657:but not of the entire empire.
308:in reference to the fact that
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1019:Comics about treasure hunting
910:Guardians of the Lost Library
869:Guardians of the Lost Library
689:Scrooge makes a reference to
224:Guardians of the Lost Library
44:secondary or tertiary sources
728:The Invader of Fort Duckburg
744:The Lost Charts of Columbus
411:, these "100,000 parchment
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810:60 Years of Uncle $ crooge
345:Junior Woodchuck Guidebook
721:Other stories by Don Rosa
398:Library of Constantinople
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794:Uncle Scrooge Adventures
755:, where he recovers the
289:Uncle Scrooge Adventures
212:Uncle Scrooge Adventures
751:wins a fishing trip to
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731:(1994), of Don Rosa's
530:Ferdinand II of Aragon
446:bringing the books to
436:Sack of Constantinople
31:relies excessively on
1029:Library of Alexandria
929:Disney comics stories
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557:San Marcos University
318:Library of Alexandria
268:Library of Alexandria
260:Huey, Dewey and Louie
188:The Junior Woodchucks
162:The Junior Woodchucks
964:Comics set in Venice
959:Comics set in Greece
954:Comics set in Turkey
829:Gladstone Publishing
812:celebratory edition
522:Biblioteca Colombina
503:Christopher Columbus
333:tomes and the first
283:Anders And & Co.
266:search for the Lost
240:Comics Buyer's Guide
949:Comics set in Egypt
884:INDUCKS information
775:Publication history
647:Alexander the Great
641:Historical accuracy
292:#27, in July 1994.
236:Walt Disney Company
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609:symbolizing
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581:Nova Albion
479:Kublai Khan
459:Renaissance
438:during the
432:manuscripts
302:Scandinavia
203:Grand Mogul
200:Donald Duck
184:Appearances
923:Categories
835:References
818:Boom! Kids
761:Azure Blue
701:The names
651:Alexandria
494:Phoenician
471:Marco Polo
296:Background
275:bloodhound
228:comic book
216:July, 1994
96:April 2009
66:newspapers
33:references
783:Cover to
663:diadochic
649:intended
417:Dark Ages
390:Byzantium
386:parchment
382:Cleopatra
371:Money Bin
359:artifacts
335:Gutenberg
331:parchment
806:Gemstone
537:Duckburg
463:Leonardo
425:Orthodox
405:Istanbul
234:for The
232:Don Rosa
152:Don Rosa
142:Don Rosa
914:Inducks
873:Inducks
855:, from
659:Babylon
520:In the
507:Seville
444:knights
413:scrolls
373:guard.
327:papyrus
314:Denmark
80:scholar
753:Canada
631:emblem
596:vellum
573:Olmecs
571:, and
565:Aztecs
561:Mayans
515:France
483:Cathay
475:Orient
448:Venice
409:Turkey
394:Greece
310:Norway
306:Egmont
262:, and
176:Layout
82:
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1034:Thoth
655:Egypt
615:deity
611:Thoth
592:crypt
569:Incas
511:Spain
455:abbey
428:monks
421:Islam
378:Egypt
168:Pages
138:Story
87:JSTOR
73:books
896:#383
799:CMYK
713:and
705:and
607:Ibis
600:rats
553:Peru
549:Lima
541:logs
465:and
353:Plot
158:Hero
59:news
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587:).
517:".
403:In
347:?!"
214:#27
148:Ink
35:to
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