A rare typescript of children’s story The Little Prince, one of the most translated books ever published, is set to go on sale for $1.25m (£963,313).
The typescript – a typed copy of a text – was produced in New York by its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, while in exile from Nazi-occupied France in the 1940s, and is one of three known to be in existence.
The copy contains handwritten notes and sketches by Saint-Exupéry. It will go on sale at the Abu Dhabi Art Festival in the United Arab Emirates in November.
Having the typed manuscript “is an extremely rare event”, said Sammy Jay, senior literature specialist from the typescript’s seller Peter Harrington Rare Books.
Saint-Exupéry wrote Le Petit Prince, in the original French, for children while living in exile in New York during World War Two. It was published in 1943.
He was an experienced aviator and, after writing the book, he returned to Europe on a reconnaissance mission for the Free French air force fighting Nazi Germany. He disappeared on his last mission while over the Mediterranean, and it is unknown how exactly his plane went down.
The famous work of fiction is about a pilot stranded in a desert who meets a small boy called the Little Prince who is visiting Earth.
Since its publication, The Little Prince has gone on to sell millions of copies around the world.
Saint-Exupéry’s original handwritten manuscript is in New York. Two other typescripts are known to exist, one in France’s national library and another in the Harry Ransom Center in Texas.
Mr Jay told the BBC that Saint-Exupéry gave those two typescripts to friends before his disappearance, but the third one “wasn’t inscribed or given to someone”.
The third was in a private collection in France “for decades” and is the only copy that has come up to be sold to the public, he said, adding that it is “astounding” to have it.
“It’s very exciting because the quest [for me] is always to find something more and more amazing…I don’t know how I’m going to beat it,” Mr Jay said.
Peter Harrington Rare Books has possessed the typescript since the start of 2024 and has been cataloguing and conducting research on it, as well as making it ready for sale.
The cover shows evidence of stubbed-out cigarettes and the typescript contains Saint-Exupéry’s handwritten notes, annotations, and edits on its pages.
It also features what has been thought to be the first written 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.”
This typescript is “much more intimate” than the other two, Mr Jay said, highlighting notes and “doodles” the author made on it.
Two sketches of the Little Prince accompany the artefact, one of which was a preliminary sketch for the book’s final illustration, according to Peter Harrington Rare Books.
The Little Prince is part of a “global literary heritage” as one of the most translated books in the world, Mr Jay said.
He said there was the possibility a museum or library outside of Europe could buy the typescript in November, which could show a “recognition of its global status”.
