Dennis Books' collection

"No further shall weaklings' virtue triumph over evil's mighty spell.
Now you deal with ME, oh Prince and all the powers of HELL!"

I have added a link to my friend Dennis Books' collection of art. I have known Dennis for close to 25 years now. I'd rate him easily in the top 10 collectors of vintage Disneyana - he has literally thousands of 1930s and 1940s pieces of Disney memorabilia: books, celluloids, dolls, bisques, and paper items.

Dennis owns letters written by Walt Disney, Roy Disney, Hal Horne and Kay Kamen. He owns Roy Williams' business card and Floyd Gottfredson's Studio pass, both from the '30s, as well as prototype dolls and even a set of character model department figurines from Fantasia, which were cast in bronze in the 1940s and later given to him by his friend Bob Jones, who headed-up the Model Department with Joe Grant.

Dennis' Disney children's book collection is, in my estimation, second to none. Dennis claims to own copies of almost all of the American edition Disney books published from 1930 to about 1945. His European collection of 1930s Disney books is absolutely astounding - just the books printed in the United Kingdom number close to 200.

What is most amazing is the size and scope of his art collection. Dennis has managed to collect around 850 pieces of original Disney art. Almost all of the pieces are from Disney's so-called "golden age."

Dennis has an affinity for original model sheets (not photostats), as well as storyboards, conceptual art, production drawings, cels and backgrounds. Artists represented in his collection include Kay Nielson, Gustaf Tenggren, Earl Hurd, Bill Tytla, Floyd Gottfredson, Carl Barks, Hank Porter, William Wallet, Ferdinand Horvath, Sylvia Holland, Grim Natwick, Freddie Moore, Les Clark, James Bodrero and dozens more.

Pictured at the beginning of this post is an extremely rare Kay Nielson pastel concept created for Sleeping Beauty. This piece depicts the film's climactic battle between Maleficent and Prince Phillip and is amazing to see in person. I hope you enjoy this piece and to view more gorgeous pieces of art, please click on the link and head over to his gallery where hundreds more pieces of vintage Disney art await.