The beloved classic “The Little Prince” has returned to Paris after 75 years. French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery penned the iconic book in New York and now 30 handwritten pages of the original manuscript are on display at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. Hundreds of other items that highlight different parts of the author’s life and work are part of the exhibit. They include watercolors, sketches, drawings, photographs, poems, newspaper clippings, and correspondence.

“The exhibition is called ‘An Encounter with the Little Prince’ and the goal is to really encounter Little Prince,” Thomas Rivière, great-grandnephew of Saint-Exupery, told a news agency. The imaginative and symbolic story has sold more than 200 million copies around the globe. It tells the tale of a child, who visits various planets in space, gaining wisdom. The book addresses themes of loneliness, friendship, and innocence. It has been translated into nearly 500 languages, since it was first published, based on the Museum of Decorative Arts, making it one of the most translated works in the world. Saint-Exupery, however, did not live to witness the book’s success. He went missing while flying a mission in 1944 and was declared dead in 1945. It took Rivière, who is the head of Saint-Exupery’s estate, three years to bring the exhibition to the public — partly due to the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic. The exhibition is open to visitors until June 26.