An original watercolor drawing from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s beloved children’s book The Little Prince fetched about $380,000 at Christie’s auction in London yesterday. The 1942 illustration, depicting the Little Prince conversing with a snake in the Sahara desert, far exceeded its pre-auction estimate of £25,000 to £35,000 ($32,000 to $44,000), reaching a final bid of around £302,400 ($379,550 dollars).
Previously auctioned at Sotheby’s in 1989, this watercolor is one of the few original drawings from the first edition of The Little Prince to be sold publicly. Christie’s highlighted the rarity of such works, noting that their final or near-final forms are particularly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts.
This auction follows the notable sale of several other illustrations by The Little Princeeven at a 2017 Artcurial auction in Paris, where a watercolor of the Little Prince sitting in a chair gazing at the sun fetched an estimated $317,680.
The Little Prince is one of the best-selling fiction books in history. Saint-Exupéry, who created these charming illustrations and stories while in exile in the United States during World War II, did not live to see the success of his work. The writer and artist died in July 1944, a year after the book’s initial publication in New York.
