2024-10-24 10:16:00
This unique copy, on sale at the price of 1.25 million dollars, includes corrections made by Antoine Saint-Exupéry and passages not preserved, and therefore never published.
Its black cover, ruined by time, contains a treasure: the typescript of Little prince by Antoine Saint-Exupéry, the only one to have belonged to the writer, is on sale in a specialist London bookshop.
Accompanied by the passport, issued by the French Ministry of Culture, the precious object will be sold during the Abu Dhabi Art Fair which opens on November 20th. Its price? 1.25 million dollars (or 1.14 million euros).
It was purchased “early this year” by the bookstore specializing in rare books, Peter Harringtonfor an amount that was not disclosed.
Unreleased songs
This typescript annotated by Saint-Exupéry, which contains numerous drawings by the author and his famous phrase “One sees well only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eye”, was the highlight of a French auction dedicated to French writer and aviator at the end of 2023. For the first time it is sold separately.
“It’s a unique object,” explains Sammy Jay, of Peter Harrington bookshop, for AFP. Unique to the three initial typescripts, this is the only one the writer had preserved.
“Unlike the other two versions, which he had entrusted to two different people, this was his working version, in which he made corrections to the initial text,” he explains.
The typescript of “The Little Prince” by Antoine Saint-Exupéry is on sale at a London specialist bookshop in Abu Dhabi. ©William Edwards
In addition to the corrections made by Saint-Exupéry, this typescript includes passages that have not been preserved and therefore never modified. The other two typescripts are found in the collections of the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF) and the University of Texas respectively. The autograph manuscript is in New York.
Creative process
An object of this kind is extremely rare on the antique book market, which is not used to juggling figures close to or above a million dollars, underlines the bookseller.
“It is very rare to have an object of the contents of this typescript,” he continues, citing the example of the manuscript of On the road by Jack Kerouac, which rose to $2.4 million in 2001.
“What’s interesting about this typescript is that it gives us a glimpse into (the author’s) creative process. He had a really hard time getting to the phrase ‘We only see with the heart,'” he continues.
The Little Prince is one of the best-selling books in the world, more than volume 1 ofHarry Potter et The Hobbit reunited”, assures Sammy Jay. At the end of this sale, the typescript could become part of Asian or Arab museums or private collections. “We already feel a lot of interest in the world”, assures Sammy Jay.
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