Original 'Little Prince' typescript set for sale at Abu Dhabi art fair

London: A unique London bookstore is offering an original typescript of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's beloved children's book, The Little Prince, complete with the author's handwritten notes and revisions. The well-worn manuscript, along with Saint-Exupéry's passport issued by the French culture ministry, will be available at the Abu Dhabi Art 2024 fair starting November 20, with a price tag of at least USD 1.25 million.

The typescript was acquired earlier this year by Peter Harrington, a rare books specialist, although the purchase price has not been disclosed. The typescript also contains numerous drawings by the author as well as his famous phrase "One only sees clearly with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes".

Sammy Jay from Peter Harrington Rare Books noted that this is one of only three known versions of the manuscript, with one version held by the National Library of France. "Unlike the other two which were given to people, he kept this one and it was his own working copy of the typescript so that's what makes it extra special," Jay said.

This particular typescript includes not only Saint-Exupéry's corrections but also passages that were later removed from the final version. Such a manuscript is extremely rare in the world of rare books, where high prices are not typically the norm. "You don't usually get something of this status," Jay said, citing the example of the scroll typescript for Jack Kerouac's novel On The Road, which sold for USD 2.4 million in 2001.

"The market for rare and ancient books is very different from any other market in the sense that you don't often sell for millions," he said. The Little Prince remains one of the world's best-selling books having sold more than the first Harry Potter and The Hobbit combined, according to Jay.

The typescript has generated significant interest and is expected to be purchased by either a museum or a private collector, potentially from Asia or the Arab world.

Saint-Exupéry wrote The Little Prince during his exile in the United States in 1942, after fleeing France due to the Nazi invasion. He returned to military service in 1943, participating in the North African campaign, and the book was published in the U.S. that same year. Tragically, Saint-Exupéry disappeared during a flight over the Mediterranean in July 1944 and did not live to see his book achieve global acclaim.

Agency