A rare typescript of The Little Prince, one of the most widely translated books in history, is set to go on sale for $1.25 million (£963,313) at the Abu Dhabi Art Festival in November.
This typescript, created by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry while in exile from Nazi-occupied France during the 1940s, is one of only three known copies and features handwritten notes and sketches by the author.
Saint-Exupéry wrote Le Petit Prince in New York during World War II, where he fled after France fell to the Nazis.
Published in 1943, the story follows a pilot stranded in a desert who encounters a young boy, the Little Prince, who is visiting Earth.
The book has since become a beloved classic, selling millions of copies globally.
Sammy Jay, a senior literature specialist with Peter Harrington Rare Books, which is handling the sale, called the opportunity to sell the typescript “an extremely rare event.”
Saint-Exupéry’s original handwritten manuscript resides in New York, while the other two known typescripts are held in France’s national library and the Harry Ransom Center in Texas.
This third typescript, now in the public domain, had been in a private French collection for decades before being acquired by Peter Harrington Rare Books.
The typescript features Saint-Exupéry’s handwritten annotations and what is thought to be the first recorded appearance of one of the story’s most famous lines: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; the essential is invisible to the eye.”
Accompanying the text are two sketches of the Little Prince, including a preliminary drawing for the book’s final illustration.
Jay highlighted that this typescript feels “much more intimate” due to Saint-Exupéry’s notes and doodles throughout the document.
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