The Little Prince at The Morgan Library
April 3, 2014 9:20 AM   Subscribe

The Little Prince: A New York Story As he prepared to leave the city to rejoin the war effort as a reconnaissance pilot, Saint-Exupéry appeared at his friend Silvia Hamilton's door wearing his military uniform. "I'd like to give you something splendid," he said, "but this is all I have." He tossed a rumpled paper bag onto her entryway table. Inside were the manuscript and drawings for The Little Prince, which the Morgan acquired from her in 1968.

Focusing on the story's American origins, this exhibition features twenty-five of the manuscript pages—replete with crossed-out words, cigarette burns, and coffee stains—and all forty-three of the earliest versions of drawings for the book.
posted by R. Mutt (16 comments total) 21 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wind Sand and Stars is a book of such extraordinary genius and beauty that I never even bothered reading The Little Prince for fear of disappointment in Exupery.
posted by spicynuts at 9:26 AM on April 3, 2014


spicynuts, you're missing out.
posted by Lemmy Caution at 9:28 AM on April 3, 2014 [7 favorites]


I had to read it in French for my high school French class; fortunately, my awful teacher was not able to ruin the experience, though she tried.
posted by Melismata at 9:30 AM on April 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


I was strolling past the Morgan the other day and saw the sign for this exhibition.. yet another wonderful NYC story to be proud of! And if you've never been to the Morgan, it's a great reason to visit. Amazing facility with a very cool modernization by Renzo Piano.
posted by ReeMonster at 9:31 AM on April 3, 2014


spicynuts: For a long time I felt the same way, but in the opposite direction.

For anyone who likes The Little Prince, the exhibit is worth everything. I can't say much one way or another about the way it is framed, though, as I never looked away from the sketches and drafts long enough to read the accompanying text.

For me, there is not much more to say than that. I went with someone else and we could barely talk while there, or afterward. And looking back, I'm still clogged up. I may have to go again.
posted by dogurthr at 9:38 AM on April 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


The Morgan is endlessly fascinating. Not every museum has a life cast of George Washington's face, but at the Morgan its just another one of the things in the room.
posted by R. Mutt at 9:38 AM on April 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


I read the Stacy Shiff biography (Saint-Exupéry) a month or so ago. And immediately ordered a new copy of The Little Prince. The story behind it's writing and knowing more about the author made it enjoyable on a whole new level from when I was a child.

The dude was just an amazing person in so many different ways.
posted by DigDoug at 10:01 AM on April 3, 2014


Misread title as "Little Piers Morgan at the Library"
posted by Going To Maine at 10:23 AM on April 3, 2014


> Wind Sand and Stars is a book of such extraordinary genius and beauty that I never even bothered reading The Little Prince for fear of disappointment in Exupery.

The Little Prince is a kids' version of the same book. It's really neat reading Le petit prince after reading Terre des hommes, as I did, and getting more of what he's talking about and seeing how he's presenting it. You won't be disappointed, I promise.
posted by nangar at 11:13 AM on April 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


What a little book.

I'm going to go check this out after work tomorrow (Friday). Admission is free after 7pm. Any other Mefites want to have an impromptu meetup, IRLize this FPP?
posted by So You're Saying These Are Pants? at 11:14 AM on April 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Misread title as "Little Piers Morgan at the Library"


Worst children's book ever.


Although, Little Piers Morgan's Holiday in Belgium isn't bad. Little Piers Morgan Goes to the Doctor is simply harrowing, and was discontinued for good reason.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:01 PM on April 3, 2014 [2 favorites]


So many times, Ive wished I lived near Manhattan. This is one more.
posted by dejah420 at 5:00 PM on April 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


You should read Night Flight (Vol de Nuit) as well. Beautiful.
posted by maryr at 7:16 PM on April 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


This post made me smile.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:42 PM on April 3, 2014


So now I am intrigued; I might just have to check out The Little Prince. I didn't read as many usual children's books as most.
posted by littlemama at 9:17 PM on April 3, 2014


Oh, wow.

Hey, sweetie? You know how we've been saying it's been way too long since we've visited your folks in Rockaway?
posted by Lexica at 9:22 PM on April 3, 2014


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