A rare typescript of children’s narrative The Little Prince, one of the most translated books ever published, is set to leave on sale for $1.25m (£963,313).

The typescript, which is a typed copy of a text, was produced in recent York by its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, while in exile from Nazi-occupied France in the 1940s and is one of three known to be in existence.

The copy contains handwritten notes and sketches by Saint-Exupéry. It will leave on sale at the Abu Dhabi Art celebration in the United Arab Emirates in November.

Having the “typed manuscript…is an extremely rare occurrence”, said Sammy Jay, elder literature specialist from the typescript’s seller Peter Harrington Rare Books.

Saint-Exupéry wrote Le Petit Prince, in the original French, for children while living in exile in recent York during globe War Two. It was published in 1943.

He was an experienced aviator, and after writing the book, returned to Europe on a reconnaissance mission for the Free French air force fighting Nazi Germany. He disappeared on his last mission, and no one knows how or where his plane went down.

The famous work of falsehood is about a pilot stranded in a desert who meets a tiny boy called the Little Prince who is visiting Earth.

Since its publication, The Little Prince has gone on to sell millions of books around the globe.

Saint-Exupéry’s original handwritten manuscript is in recent York. Two other typescripts are known to be in existence, one in France’s national library and another in the Harry Ransom Center in Texas.

Mr Jay told the BBC that Saint-Exupéry gave those two typescripts to friends before his disappearance, but the third one “wasn’t inscribed or given to someone”.

The third was in a private collection in France “for decades” and is the only copy that has arrive up to be sold to the community, he said, adding that it is “astounding” to have it.

“It’s very exciting because the quest [for me] is always to discover something more and more amazing…I don’t recognize how I’m going to beat it,” Mr Jay said.

Peter Harrington Rare Books has possessed the typescript since the commence of 2024 and has been cataloguing and conducting research on it, as well as making it ready for sale.

The cover shows evidence of stubbed-out cigarettes and the typescript contains Saint-Exupéry’s handwritten notes, annotations, and edits on its pages.

It also features what has been thought to be the first written appearance of one of the narrative’s most famous lines: “It is only with the heart that one can view rightly; the essential is invisible to the eye.”

This typescript is “much more intimate” than the other two, Mr Jay said, highlighting notes and “doodles” the author made on it.

Two sketches of the Little Prince accompany the artefact, one of which was a preliminary sketch for the book’s final illustration, according to Peter Harrington Rare Books.

The Little Prince is part of a “global literary heritage” as one of the most translated books in the globe, Mr Jay said.

He said there was the possibility a museum or library outside of Europe could buy the typescript in November, which could display a “recognition of its global position”.