↑ Some confusion and controversy is commonly attached to the publication data for The Little Prince and its French companion Le Petit Prince. Saint-Exupéry, its author, spoke almost no English and wrote exclusively in French. His handwritten (and almost illegible) French manuscript was converted by his secretary into a French typescript, which he submitted to his New York City publisher Reynal & Hitchcock in late 1942, which was then translated to English by their own translator. The story was first published in New York in English in April 1943, followed a week later by its French counterpart, Le Petit Prince. It was also licensed for publication in other countries by Reynal & Hitchcock before being published by Saint-Exupéry's normal publisher in France after the end of the Second World War. Le Petit Prince would not be published in France until its liberation, with Gallimard's first French printing in November 1945, which they say they did not release for sale until 1946. In approximately 1947 Gallimard sued Reynal & Hitchcock claiming it had an 'exclusive' publishing agreement with Saint-Exupéry (who was killed during the war), and later reached a rights agreement with them.
