Le Petit Prince - Literary Translations and Printed Editions

Literary Translations and Printed Editions

Katherine Woods (1886–1968) wrote the classic English translation of 1943 which was later joined by other English translations. Her original version contained some errors. 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), since her work maintains Saint-Exupéry's story-telling spirit and charm, if not its literal accuracy. As of 2012, five additional English translations have been published:

• T.V.F. Cuffe, (ISBN 0-14-118562-7, 1st ed. 1995)
• Irene Testot-Ferry, (ISBN 0-7567-5189-6, 1st ed. 1995)
• Alan Wakeman, (ISBN 1-86205-066-X, 1st ed. 1995)
• Richard Howard, (ISBN 0-15-204804-9, 1st ed. 2000)
• David Wilkinson, (bilingual English-French student edition, ISBN 0-9567215-9-1, 1st ed. 2011)

Each of these translators approaches the essence of the original, each with their own style and focus.

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 2012 it has been translated into over 250 languages and dialects, including the Congolese language Alur, Sardinian and braille. The book is one of the few modern books to have been translated into Latin, as Regulus vel Pueri Soli Sapiunt.

In 2005, the book was also translated into Toba, an indigenous language of northern Argentina, as So Shiyaxauolec Nta'a. It was the first book translated into this language since the New Testament of the Bible. Anthropologist Florence Tola commenting on the suitability of the work for Toban translation said there is "nothing strange the Little Prince speaks with a snake or a fox and travels among the stars, it fits perfectly into the Toba mythology."

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, 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.

By studying the use of word phrasings, nouns, mistranslations and other content in newer editions, linguists can identify the source material for each as to 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.

The first edition to be published in France, Saint-Exupéry's birthplace, would not be printed by his regular publisher in that country, Gallimard, until after the Second World War, as the author's blunt views within his eloquent writings were soon banned by the German's Nazi appeasers in Vichy France. Prior to France's liberation new printings of Saint-Exupéry's works were made available only by means of secret print runs, 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.