THE LITTLE PRINCE by SAINT-EXUPERY, Antoine de - (1943)

New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, (1943). First Edition. Hardcover. This copy is clean and bright with virtually no wear but for some soiling to the endpapers and minor bumps to the corners. About Fine in a close to Fine dustwrapper with a couple of small stains to the spine. Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This is copy #348 of 525 numbered copies SIGNED by the author on the tipped-in limitation page. The American edition appeared before the French or English editions and is essentially the only way to obtain a signed edition of this book as the author was assigned to fly with the French Free Air Force shortly before publication and went missing about a year later while on a mission. This special issue of one of the most beloved books of the twentieth century is, consequently, one of the most desired limited editions and does not come often upon the marketplace. The first issue dustwrapper on this copy was likely supplied from the trade edition as it is not numbered on the spine.

THE LITTLE PRINCE is both the most-read and most-translated book in the French language and was voted the best book of the 20th century in France.