PAGES : In Any Language It’s a Bestseller

Most of “The Little Prince” was written and illustrated in 1942, when its author, French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery, was living in New York. Since then, it has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, and has been translated into at least 75 languages.

(In French, of course, he’s “Le Petit Prince”; in Spanish, “El Principito”; and Latin “Regulus Vel Pueri Soli Sapiunt.”)

The original manuscript and illustrations are the centerpieces of an exhibition at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, where they are in the permanent collection.

Watercolors and sketches feature the famous golden-haired princeling on his tiny planet, with such characters as his beloved rose and giant baobab trees. The exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of the book’s publication.

To accompany the exhibition, the library has produced a 20-minute video, “My Grown-Up Friend, Saint-Exupery,” narrated by Macaulay Culkin.

The exhibition also includes photographs of the author, a love letter to his wife, a signed first edition of “The Little Prince,” and other foreign language editions of the story.