As of April 2017,[81] The Little Prince became the world's most translated non-religious book (into 300 languages) together with Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio.
Katherine Woods (1886–1968)[82] produced the first English translation of 1943, which was later joined by several other English translations. Her translation contained some errors.[83][84] Mistranslations aside, one reviewer noted that Wood's almost "poetic" English translation has long been admired by many Little Prince lovers, who have spanned generations (it stayed in print until 2001), as her work maintains Saint-Exupéry's story-telling spirit and charm, if not its literal accuracy.[72] As of 2019 at least seven additional English translations have been published:[85]
- Irene Testot-Ferry, (ISBN 0-7567-5189-6, 1st ed. 1995)
- T.V.F. Cuffe, (ISBN 0-14-118562-7, 1st ed. 1995)
- Alan Wakeman, (ISBN 1-86205-066-X, 1st ed. 1995)[86]
- Richard Howard, (ISBN 0-15-204804-9, 1st ed. 2000)[6]
- Ros and Chloe Schwartz, (ISBN 9781907360015, 1st ed. 2010)[87]
- David Wilkinson, (bilingual English-French student edition, ISBN 0-9567215-9-1, 1st ed. 2011)
- Michael Morpurgo, (ISBN 978-1784874179, 1st ed. 2018)
- Guillain Méjane, (translated via the PoesIA project, a convolutional neural network, ISBN 9798621081355, 1st ed. 2020)
The Little Prince was also translated by Bonnie Greer for a BBC radio adaptation in 1999.
- Bonnie Greer, BBC Radio 4, broadcast 25 December 1999.[2]
Each translation approaches the essence of the original with an individual style and focus.[88][89]
Le Petit Prince is often used as a beginner's book for French-language students, and several bilingual and trilingual translations have been published. As of 2017, it has been translated into more than 300 languages and dialects, including Sardinian,[90] the constructed international languages of Esperanto and Klingon, and the Congolese language Alur, as well as being printed in Braille for blind readers. It is also often used as an introduction into endangered varieties with very few speakers like Maya (2001), Aromanian (2006), or Banat Bulgarian (2017). It is one of the few modern books to have been translated into Latin, as Regulus, vel Pueri soli sapiunt[91][92] in 1961 by Auguste Haury (1910–2002) and as Regulus in 2010 by Alexander Winkler. A translation of the book was published as U'cc priinsâž in Skolt Sámi translated by Skolt Sámi author Kati-Claudia Fofonoff in 2000, a language spoken in Sápmi. Which, at the time, was spoken by less than 500 people making it the smallest language with a translation of Le Petit Prince. In 2005, the book was also translated into Toba Qom, an indigenous language of northern Argentina, as So Shiyaxauolec Nta'a. It was the first book translated into that language since the New Testament. It was also translated to a northern Italian dialect, Vogherese. Anthropologist Florence Tola, commenting on the suitability of the work for Toban translation, said there is "nothing strange [when] the Little Prince speaks with a snake or a fox and travels among the stars, it fits perfectly into the Toba mythology".[93]
Linguists have compared the many translations and even editions of the same translation for style, composition, titles, wordings and genealogy. As an example: as of 2011 there are approximately 47 translated editions of The Little Prince in Korean,[Note 10] and there are also about 50 different translated editions in Chinese (produced in both mainland China and Taiwan). Many of them are titled Prince From a Star, while others carry the book title that is a direct translation of The Little Prince.[95] By studying the use of word phrasings, nouns, mistranslations and other content in newer editions, linguists can identify the source material for each version: whether it was derived from the original French typescript, or from its first translation into English by Katherine Woods, or from a number of adapted sources.[72][96]
The first edition to be published in France, Saint-Exupéry's birthplace, was printed by his regular publisher in that country, Gallimard, only after[8] the German occupation of France ended.[97][Note 11] Prior to France's liberation new printings of Saint-Exupéry's works were made available only by means of secret print runs,[99][100] such as that of February 1943 when 1,000 copies of an underground version of his best seller Pilote de guerre, describing the German invasion of France, were covertly printed in Lyon.[101]
Commemorating the novella's 70th anniversary of publication, in conjunction with the 2014 Morgan Exhibition, Éditions Gallimard released a complete facsimile edition of Saint-Exupéry's original handwritten manuscript entitled Le Manuscrit du Petit Prince d'Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: Facsimilé et Transcription, edited by Alban Cerisier and Delphine Lacroix. The book in its final form has also been republished in 70th anniversary editions by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (in English) and by Gallimard (in French).[61]
A Portuguese translation of the novella in 2007, edited by Eidouro Gráfica e Editora Ltda and presented at the XIII Biannual Book Fair of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, holds the Guinness World Record for world's largest book published.[102] The impressive tome measures 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) high and 3.08 m (10 ft 1 in) wide when open, containing 128 pages.
It has been translated into minority languages, such as the Irish language, by Éabhloid publishers in 2015.
Spanish editions
After being translated by Bonifacio del Carril, The Little Prince was first published in Spanish as El principito in September 1951 by the Argentine publisher Emecé Editores.[103][104] Other Spanish editions have also been created; in 1956 the Mexican publisher Diana released its first edition of the book, El pequeño príncipe, a Spanish translation by José María Francés.[8] Another edition of the work was produced in Spain in 1964 and, four years later, in 1968, editions were also produced in Colombia and Cuba, with translation by Luis Fernández in 1961. Chile had its first translation in 1981; Peru in February 1985; Venezuela in 1986, and Uruguay in 1990.[103][105][106] The book is among the few books in the Castilian cant Gacería[107] (as El pitoche engrullón) or the Madrid slang Cheli[108] (as El chaval principeras).
Bavarian editions
The Little Prince has an adaptation for the inhabitants of Bavaria, Austria and South Tyrol, covering for a large variety of the Bavarian language. The book was adapted by Johannes Limmer and published in 2019. It is called Da gloane Prinz and contains the original pictures of Saint-Exupéry.[109]
Chinese editions
The Little Prince is one of the most popular and beloved foreign works of literature in China. It is reported that there are more than 70 Chinese translations of the novella.[110] According to the official website of the Succession Antoine de Saint-Exupéry-d'Agay, the version translated by Li Jihong, which was published in January 2013, sold over two million copies in less than four years.[111] Cheng Li-chun published a translation in Taiwan in May 2022.[112]
Extension of copyrights in France
Due to Saint-Exupéry's wartime death, his estate received the civil code designation Mort pour la France (English: Died for France), which was applied by the French government in 1948. Amongst the law's provisions is an increase of 30 years in the duration of copyright;[113] thus most of Saint-Exupéry's creative works will not fall out of copyright status in France for an extra 30 years.[114][75]
The book will remain under copyright in the US until 2039[115][116] and will remain in copyright in France until 2033 or 2045.[117][118]
