Description:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
n.p., n.d.
Saint-Exupéry Signed Limited Edition of Flight to Arras, His World War II Memoir
Signed book
A rare signed book, a first American limited edition of his book Flight to Arras. (New York: Raynal & Hitchcock, 1942). Hardbound 4to. (5.5" x 8.5"), 255pp. Edition limited to 500 signed copies, this being 157/500, numbered and signed by Saint-Exupéry on the first limitation page. Additionally signed by the book's illustrator, Bernard LaMotte.

Bound in linen with blue calf at spine and in just fair condition, with wear to leather and gilt, chipping at head and foot; toning to edges and slight bumping to corners. Ownership sticker on front endpaper. Binding is sound. We welcome bidders to view this lot in our Connecticut offices.

Saint-Exupéry published and signed this volume during his exile in New York, just months before he began writing his modern classic, The Little Prince.

Flight to Arras (originally titled Pilote de Guerre) is a memoir that recalls Saint-Exupéry's service in the French Air Force as a reconnaissance pilot during World War II, and centers on a harrowing solo sortie he flew over the town of Arras during the Battle of France.

At the time Flight to Arras was written, the entire French army had been reduced to 50 observation crews of three men. Of the 23 crews in Saint-Exupéry's squadron, 17 had been decimated in the first three weeks of the war. The themes of despair and futility haunt the work, as does the Kafkaesque absurdity of the task at hand. Saint-Exupéry's line sums it up entirely: "Crew after crew was being offered up as sacrifice. It was as if you dashed glassfuls of water into a forest fire in the hope of putting it out…".

When the work was published in France in November 1942, censors of the collaborationist Vichy government quickly banned the work and seized and destroyed 1,726 copies of the first edition, leaving only 402 copies in existence. Pilote de Guerre remained interdicted until the end of the war.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900-ca. 1944) was a French aviator and author of "The Little Prince" (1943), among many other notable works. He died during a solo flight, presumably shot-down by enemy aircraft but a striking inconsistency in facts makes the cause of his early death a mystery to this day.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5.5" x 8.5"
  • Medium: Signed book

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