An original watercolour painting by Antoine de Saint-Exupery from his classic children's book The Little Prince will sell at Artcurial.
It's expected to realise around $56,545-67,854 in the May 31 sale in Paris.
 The Little Prince is one of the most successful books of all time |
The Little Prince (1943) is among the most successful books of all time. It has been translated into 270 languages and has sold around 140m copies worldwide.
It tells the story of an aviator stranded in the desert, who meets an alien fallen from an asteroid - the Little Prince of the title.
Most of the elements of the book were inspired by events and people from Exupery's own life.
The piece originates from page 87 of the first edition of the book and has passed down through the family of Exupery's wife, Consuelo Saint-Exupery.
Guillaume Romaneix of Artcurial described the illustration to the Guardian: "This watercolour shows an iconic image of the young hero.
"He escapes into the night without a sound and walks alone in the dunes with his scarf blowing in the wind. He will soon disappear and the atmosphere is tense."
Artwork associated with the book has sold well in the past. In 2012, a previously unrecorded draft copy of the manuscript made $479,515 at Artcurial.
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