Is My The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, April 1943, in two issues — Katherine Woods's English translation (The Little Prince) and Saint-Exupéry's original French text (Le Petit Prince)
• For the English trade issue the title-page imprint must read "Reynal & Hitchcock, Inc."; the copyright notice must carry no edition or printing numbering; and the colophon must be present on the last page, with no mention of Harcourt anywhere
• The French issue additionally carries the "mark of the raven" on p
• 63: a small black spot on the horizon, right of the foot of the peak in the mountain-top illustration, resembling a bird in flight
• It is an artefact of the original printing and disappears with the sixth French edition, when the type was reset; its absence indicates a later printing
• Signed limited issues accompany the trade issues, signed by the author on a tipped-in limitation leaf with the copy number repeated on the jacket spine; the English limitation is commonly recorded at 525 numbered copies and the French at 260, though one auction record gives 500 for the English, so the exact figure is not settled

How Reynal & Hitchcock marked a first edition

• Until 1947: NO first-edition statement on US-originated firsts; subsequent printings WERE noted on the copyright page, so the ABSENCE of any later-printing notice is the identifying point for a first. This is the only do…
• For books published after 1947, defer to Harcourt, Brace & Co. identification points, since R&H was absorbed by Harcourt in 1948 and later issues of R&H titles carry Harcourt imprints/points.

Full Reynal & Hitchcock first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
3. Verify this is the American true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The census claim is confirmed in substance: both the original French text and the English translation first appeared from Reynal & Hitchcock in New York in April 1943, not from a French house — the famous reversal is real. Sources conflict on sequencing within April 1943: several date the English issue to 6 April 1943 with the French following a few days later, while dealers describing the 260-copy French limitation call that the true first. Both New York issues are collected and the days-level precedence is not settled here. Gallimard's Paris edition is the first French edition published in France: printing was completed 30 November 1945 but it was not released until April 1946, and Gallimard dates it 1946. It is a hardcover of 93 pp. in blue cloth with the Little Prince and the "nrf" device stamped in red, under a jacket closely resembling the American one. It is set from the American French text and carries its own errors — the asteroid is numbered "3251" in Paris against "325" in New York, and a star is missing from the astronomer's telescope scene.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

The dominant trap is publisher succession, not a book club: Reynal & Hitchcock was bought by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1948, which merged into Harcourt, Brace & World in 1960, and those later printings carry only the 1943 copyright date — they are routinely offered as firsts on the strength of that date alone. Test the imprint, not the date: any Harcourt name on the title page or copyright page rules out the first printing. Confirm the last-page colophon is present and the copyright notice carries no edition numbering. In French, later printings lose the p. 63 raven mark from the sixth edition onward. Cloth colour and jacket artwork are not reliable tells, and jackets on this title are frequently restored or supplied.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) a first edition?

A first edition of The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock) is identified by: New York: Reynal & Hitchcock, April 1943, in two issues — Katherine Woods's English translation (The Little Prince) and Saint-Exupéry's original French text (Le Petit Prince).

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The census claim is confirmed in substance: both the original French text and the English translation first appeared from Reynal & Hitchcock in New York in April 1943, not from a French house — the famous reversal is real.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

The dominant trap is publisher succession, not a book club: Reynal & Hitchcock was bought by Harcourt, Brace & Company in 1948, which merged into Harcourt, Brace & World in 1960, and those later printings carry only the 1943 copyright date — they are routinely offered as firsts on the strength of that date alone. Test the imprint, not the date: any Harcourt name on the title page or copyright page rules out the first printing. Confirm the last-page colophon is present and the copyright notice ca

I have a first edition of The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.