The Little Prince: Rare typed copy to go on sale for $1.25m

Saint-Exupéry’s original handwritten manuscript is in New York. Two other typescripts are known to be in existence, 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”.