The Rich History Behind Le Petit Prince
The fascinating story of Le Petit Prince, by author and French national hero Antoine de St Exupery, traces its history back to the height of World War 2. When stranded in the USA the famous French aviator and aristocrat published by Reynal and Hitchcock of New York in 1943. First in French, just seven days before his untimely death whilst in action, and then in English shortly after.
The works of St-Ex (as he was known to his friends) had been banned by the Vichy regime and this was to include Le Petit Prince.
2020 is also the 75th anniversary of the Gallimard edition, published posthumously in France after the war and thought by many to be the authentic voice of Antoine. During the course of this year there are lots of collaborative events taking place in France and beyond to celebrate this fact.
Published in more languages than any other children’s book, including Klingon, The Little Prince remains to this day a significant piece of French cultural history and a work of philosophical genius that has touched the hearts of millions upon millions across the face of the globe in a way that is unlikely St-Ex himself could ever have imagined.
The UK-based agent for The Little Prince, Those Licensing People has now developed the story further and in this important Publishing year has released a new online and direct to consumer publishing portal linking the demi-monde of The Little Prince to a unique Little Prince Star Registry.
Based on the latest and most up to date map of the Cosmos, clients can log in to The Little Prince Star Registry and rename a star in honour of a loved one, a meaningful event, in memoriam, or just simply to say I love you. A unique certificate is produced and with the customers details printed to order, it is bound into a specially printed-on-demand version of the famous book utilising the original Reynal and Hitchcock text.
Available in most languages and countries this unique approach to sharing genuine illustrated classics has been over a year in development before going live.
“The point of this project,” says Russell Dever MD of TLP, “is that unlike other ‘star registers,’ which do exist but are not ‘official,’ in any sense, is that stars are being renamed forever in a unique cosmology that is both real and fictional at the same time and which is an officially licensed entity within the entire oeuvre. The Little Prince, a story about love and selflessness is a wonderful work within which to establish a truly romantic online project, bringing the world of St-Ex close than ever to the hearts and minds of his devotees.”
The new work is produced in a unique landscape format utilising all the original illustrations with contemporary additions and presented in a highly collectable and personal edition. Printed over 64pp with endpapers and initially offered in hardback, further upscaled editions are planned for the gift season in Q4 of this year.
Meanwhile The Little Prince is once more enjoying a renaissance in the UK with the publication of the new translation by Michael Murpago (War Horse) published by Penguin. New stationery from Hype, and other licenses across children’s and adults apparel and gift including high profile brands such as Moleskin, IWC Schaffhausen, and Mont Blanc. Needless to say, Those Licensing People have also named the first star and felt they had only one choice. It is called Antoine De St-Exupery. “For an aviator who had a deep affection for the night sky, we think he would have approved,” they commented.
