# Is "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Reynal & Hitchcock, New York, 1943) is identified by: Both the English (trans. The census claim is confirmed in substance and tightened on dates.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Both the English (trans
- Katherine Woods) and the French (Le Petit Prince) first editions were published in New York by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943, the English a few days ahead of the French
- 93 numbered pages, small quarto, publisher's cloth with a stamped illustration to the front board, in a colour-printed pictorial jacket
- English issue points: the title-page imprint reads "Reynal & Hitchcock, Inc." with no mention of Harcourt, Brace (which took the book over later); the copyright notice is identical to the original and carries no edition or printing numbering beneath it; and a colophon paragraph is printed on the last page — its absence marks a later English printing
- Jacket point: the Fourth Avenue address for Reynal & Hitchcock on the front flap, with the price present at the flap; jackets giving a West 8th Street or 383 Madison Avenue address are later
- Dealers record the first English trade binding as salmon cloth with maroon lettering; blue cloth is a later binding
- Publisher imprint reads Reynal & Hitchcock, New York

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
| Publisher | Reynal & Hitchcock, New York |
| Year | 1943 |
| True first | American edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Both the English (trans |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Both the English (trans. Katherine Woods) and the French (Le Petit Prince) first editions were published in New York by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943, the English a few days ahead of the French. 93 numbered pages, small quarto, publisher's cloth with a stamped illustration to the front board, in a colour-printed pictorial jacket. English issue points: the title-page imprint reads "Reynal & Hitchcock, Inc." with no mention of Harcourt, Brace (which took the book over later); the copyright notice is identical to the original and carries no edition or printing numbering beneath it; and a colophon paragraph is printed on the last page — its absence marks a later English printing. Jacket point: the Fourth Avenue address for Reynal & Hitchcock on the front flap, with the price present at the flap; jackets giving a West 8th Street or 383 Madison Avenue address are later. Dealers record the first English trade binding as salmon cloth with maroon lettering; blue cloth is a later binding. French issue point: the "mark of the raven" (macule) on page 63 — a small black spot on the horizon resembling a bird over the mountains; it disappears by the sixth French printing when the type was reset. The specialist Petit Prince Collection census records signed, numbered limited issues of both languages alongside the trade issues (English 525 copies, 500 for sale; French 260 copies, 250 for sale).

## Is this the true first?
The census claim is confirmed in substance and tightened on dates. The New York Reynal & Hitchcock editions of April 1943 are the world firsts in BOTH languages — this is the rare case where the first edition of a French classic is an American book, and the English translation preceded the French original into print by a few days. Gallimard's Paris edition is NOT the first French-language edition: it was printed after the Liberation (achevé d'imprimer 30 November 1945) and released in April 1946, which is why it is variously dated 1945 and 1946 — the gap from New York is roughly two and a half years, not three. The Gallimard is a first-thus (first French-published) trap; its illustrations also differ in colour and shape from the 1943 New York plates, the Little Prince's cape having changed from green to blue. Both New York issues, English and French, are collected.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later English printings drop the rear colophon and, once Harcourt, Brace assumed publication, name Harcourt in the imprint. Jackets bearing the West 8th Street address (fifth English / sixth French printings) or 383 Madison Avenue (seventh French) are later states. Blue cloth on the English indicates a later binding. On the French side, absence of the page 63 raven mark places the copy at the sixth printing or later.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Little Prince* by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-little-prince
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.