Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Marking the 70th anniversary of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince (Reynal & Hitchcock, 1943), The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City is featuring an exhibit about this iconic book, running through April 27. The show reveals the role that a woman named Silvia Hamilton—later Reinhardt—played as an inspiration for aspects of Saint Exupéry’s tale of an interstellar traveler who comes to Earth in search of friendship. Reinhardt was the model for the character of Saint-Exupéry’s fox, who uttered the book’s oft-quoted line, "What is essential is invisible to the eye." Her black poodle provided fodder for the sheep character, and her mop-topped doll, the little prince himself. Saint-Exupéry wrote The Little Prince while he was living in New York City for two years during the Second World War. Forty original watercolors, early editions of the book, correspondence, and photographs comprise the show, The Little Prince: A New York Story. The author, who was married, developed a strong bond with Reinhardt, who was divorced, during his time in New York.

Silvia Reinhardt

“My grandmother would tell me elaborate bedtime stories about her ‘beaus’ as she called them. The favored among them was Saint-Exupéry,” says Reinhardt’s granddaughter, Dana Reinhardt. “When she met him at a party, she said to a friend who spoke French, ‘Tell him I love him,'” adds Reinhardt, author of the YA novel, We Are the Goldens (Random/Wendy Lamb, May 2014). Saint-Exupéry would often visit Silvia late at night, and she would fix him gin and scrambled eggs, says Reinhardt. During those visits, he wrote and illustrated the bulk of The Little Prince. She adds, “Their language barrier didn't seem to do much to deter their relationship. She was always thrilled when his knock came at the door.” “Saint-Exupéry played a huge role in the story of my grandmother's life,” adds Reinhardt, noting that her grandmother often told her about the author as a bedtime story. When Saint-Exupéry visited Silvia in April, 1943 before rejoining his air force squadron, he said, “I’d like to give you something splendid, but this is all I have.” With that, he tossed a rumpled paper bag on her entryway table. Inside were the original manuscript and drawings for The Little Prince, which the Morgan acquired in 1968. First released in the US by Reynal & Hitchcock, The Little Prince was not published in France until after World War II. The exhibit features the publishers’ archives of documents, letters, and press releases.

"The Saddest Day," from the collection of Mark Reinhardt and Molly Magavern

The show also includes a first edition of the book given to Dana Reinhardt’s father by Saint-Exupéry when he was nine, with inscription, “For Stephen, to whom I have already spoken about The Little Prince, and who perhaps will be his friend.” It is the one of  only copies known to have been inscribed to a child, says Reinhardt. A drawing called The Saddest Day, on loan from Dana Reinhardt's brother, Mark Reinhardt, depicts one of the most evocative scenes from the book: the little prince watching sunsets on his tiny planet. Saint-Exupéry and his plane were lost in an Allied reconnaissance mission in 1944. He never lived to see the success of his book that has been translated into 250 languages. The exhibition includes the silver identity bracelet that Saint-Exupéry was wearing when his plane went down. Recovered near Marseilles in 1998 in a fisherman’s net, it is inscribed with Saint Exupéry’s name and Reynal & Hitchcock’s New York address.

Identity bracelet of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The diary of fellow author-aviator Anne Morrow Lindbergh is also on view. Upon reading an early draft of the book she wrote that it conveyed a “personal sadness—eternal sadness—eternal hunger— eternal searching.”  Orson Welles was so impressed with the book that wrote a screenplay. Though a film was never produced, Welles’ annotated screenplay is on view.