Gallic aeronaut and source Antoine de Saint - Exupéry’sThe Little Prince , published in 1943 , has long been regarded as one of the most compellingbooksof the 20th century . draw upon Saint - Exupéry ’s own experiences in air power , the book tells the taradiddle of a pilot who break up in the Sahara and befriend a slight boy who claims to have fall from outer space . The account book is accompany by a number of illustrations by Saint - Exupéry . Now , Smithsonianreports that some of the original preparatory sketches have surfaced .
According toFrance24.com , the survey — of the titulary Little Prince chit-chat with a George Fox , a boa constrictor down an elephant , and a graphic symbol called the Tippler — were purchased at auction in 1986 by an artwork gatherer cite Bruno Stefanini , who tucked them away in a brochure . When Stefanini passed aside in December 2018 , the nontextual matter — drawn on airpost paper — was uncover by workers at his non - profit Foundation for Art , Culture , and History in Winterthur , Switzerland .
The organisation intends to partake in its findings with the Morgan Library and Museum in New York , which currently house the original book manuscript ( let in draft copy of the book’smost notable phrase , " What is crucial is invisible to the eye " ) and 35 other sketches .
The Stefanini solicitation also includes a especially personal piece of material . One of the study include a love varsity letter made out to Saint - Exupéry ’s wife while the fender was in New York in 1942 following Germany ’s encroachment of France . It was there he wroteThe Little Prince , which was published the next year . In 1944 , Saint - Exupéry was shot down by a German pilot over the Mediterranean .
[ h / tSmithsonian ]
