The Little Prince.

SAINT-EXUPERY, Antoine de; Translated by Katherine Woods.

Item Number: 136746

New York: Reynal and Hitchcock, 1943.

First edition, first printing of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s masterpiece, which precedes the first edition in French. Translated from the French by Katherine Woods. Small quarto, bound in full modern full pictorial brown morocco with inlay tooling to the front panel, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, illustrated by the author. In fine condition. A stunning example.

The Little Prince has something of Hans Christian Andersen in it, something of Lewis Carroll, and even, it may perhaps be said, a bit of John Bunyan. It is often lyrical sometimes profound However it is classified, The Little Prince has entered children’s literature, in the manner of quite a few other such hard-to-define works in the preceding centuries" (Pierpont Morgan Library). It is one of the most-translated books in the world and was voted the best book of the 20th century in France. Translated into 300 languages and dialects (as well as Braille), selling nearly two million copies annually with sales totaling over 140 million copies worldwide, it has become one of the best-selling books ever published. It is the basis for the 2015 English-language French 3D animated fantasy adventure family drama film directed by Mark Osborne. The film stars the voices of Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Bud Cort, Marion Cotillard, Benicio del Toro, James Franco, Ricky Gervais, Paul Giamatti, Riley Osborne, Albert Brooks and Mackenzie Foy.