Item Spotlight: A Box of Delights Within a Box of Delights

“I press this to open,” Kay repeated. “If I push it to the right I can go small… If I push it to the left I can go swift.”

On this particular magical box, you only get a clasp, and we think that is quite enough.

We are delighted to share a truly special pairing: the first editions of The Midnight Folk (1927) and The Box of Delights (1935) by John Masefield, both in their original dustwrappers, now housed inside a Box of Delights of their own.

Two Modern Classics and Conservation as Quiet Wizardry

Masefield’s two novels follow the adventures of the young Kay Harker, drifting between the everyday and the enchanted. The Midnight Folk introduced readers to Kay’s nocturnal world of secrets and quests, while The Box of Delights, his Christmas-set sequel, plunged him into a far more dangerous and dazzling realm of wolves, sorcerers, and ancient magic.

C. S. Lewis once wrote of the sequel:

“A unique work and will often be re-read… The beauties, all the ‘delights’ that keep on emerging from the box — are so exquisite, and quite unlike anything I have seen elsewhere.”

Both volumes here survive in their original dust wrappers, which is no small thing in the case of The Box of Delights, which was first published in an inexplicably low print run of just 7,500 copies and copies in the original jacket are not comparatively scarce.

And if the dust jacket of The Box of Delights looks almost too good to be true, there is a reason. Conservator Charlotte Nickels who owns Dorset-based Paperback Conservation stepped in to bring back to life this scarce jacket, and that she did! The wrapper, once foxed, fragile, and with slight loss, underwent careful, non-invasive treatment: dry cleaning and washing to reduce discolouration, deacidification for long-term stability, and meticulous repairs using fine Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste. The result is a wrapper given a whole new lease of life, with all work fully visible on the reverse and now safely housed in an archival cover.

A Box That Might Do Something If You Stare Too Long

To house them, we turned to our lovely partners at the Black Cat Bindery, and to the owner Rosy Gray, who never seems to say no when we present her with yet another slightly ridiculous idea.

The result is a bespoke Box of Delights, bound in full hand-dyed leather with a rich, mottled patina that looks old, wonky, and as though it has stepped straight out of the story. Fine gilt tooling frames the panels, while small gilt roses (a direct nod to Kay’s discovery of the gold-inlaid groove and rose-bud knob) quietly signal the box’s hidden powers.

Lift the lid and you’ll find deep red velvet, silk lifting ribbons, and a small window set into the inside panel, revealing the signatures of John Masefield and his daughter Judith, who illustrated The Box of Delights with twenty-six delightful vignettes.

A Christmas Book That Refuses to Stay on the Page

Since its publication, The Box of Delights has become a cherished seasonal favourite in Britain, inspiring radio adaptations from the 1940s onwards and the much-loved The Box of Delights BBC series. Its influence has been acknowledged by writers ranging from Angela Carter to Neil Gaiman. Whether you prefer to revisit Kay Harker's adventures in a book by the fire, or rewatch the BBC series with the lights low every year, this pairing captures the heart of Masefield’s winter magic. Pure Christmas joy.

Now available on the Sancho’s Rare Books website, together with individual condition reports and a few other notess. Visit this link.