Little Prince, Big Value: Book Found at Thrift Store Appraised on Antiques Roadshow
A $1.25 thrift store find turned into an $8,000 treasure when a vintage French edition of Le Petit Prince—signed, numbered, and nearly priceless in charm—landed on Antiques Roadshow.
A guest on a recent episode of Antiques Roadshow brought a vintage copy of Le Petit Prince she had purchased at a thrift store forty years before. The appraiser pointed out that it was not only a first edition but also signed and numbered, leaving the guest shocked and delighted at its valuation of $8,000 to $12,000.
The Antiques Roadshow guest, appearing on the episode “Living History Farms, Hour 3,” which aired on March 17, considers herself “a Francophile at heart.” She lived in France for three years and has taught French. So, when she found a copy of Le Petit Prince by writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry at a thrift store in Kansas City, she couldn’t resist—especially with a price of $1.25.
At the time, the guest already had a few copies of the book, including English, Italian, and German translations, but none in French.
Le Petit Prince, or The Little Prince in its English translation, is one of the world’s most beloved books. It has been translated into hundreds of languages, and hundreds of millions of copies have been sold. Published in 1943 with watercolor illustrations by the author, it tells the story of a pilot whose plane crashes in a desert, where he meets the titular Little Prince. The prince tells the pilot the story of his life and travels among planets and asteroids with a combination of whimsy and philosophy that has since charmed generations of children and adults.
As Antiques Roadshow appraiser Darren Winston described, the book was first published by Reynal & Hitchcock in New York, where Saint-Exupéry lived at the time. They released 525 copies in English and 260 copies in French. Each copy was signed by the author and numbered. The guest’s copy was number 51. In addition to the number and signature, the dust jacket was intact, further contributing to the value. Winston says the book could sell at auction “for between $8,000 and $12,000.”
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