The Midnight Folk & Box of Delights

"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 elsehwere" (C. S. Lewis, Collected Letters: Volume III, 2006)

A delightful pairing of the two first editions of John Masefield’s much-loved fantasy novels chronicling the adventures of the young Kay Harker, The Midnight Folk (1927) and The Box of Delights (1935), both in their original dustwrappers and housed in a custom “Box of Delights” replica with an inner window panel displaying the signatures of both the author and his daughter Judith who illustrated the sequel with 26 vignettes.

The listing includes:

MASEFIELD, John. The Midnight Folk: A Novel. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1927. First UK edition, first printing of the author's first fantasy novel introducing young Kay Harker who sets out to discover what became of a fortune stolen from his seafaring great grandfather. Publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettering to spine and front cover, top edge stained blue, plain endpapers; with the unclipped (7s. 6d. net) illustrated dustwrapper. A very good copy, with binding square and a little loosened, with light foxing to the closed text block and the first four pages showing a few creases; with the foxed, ever-so-slightly nibbled to extremities and tanned to spine dust jacket; now placed in an archival wrapper.

[together with]

MASEFIELD, John. The Box of Delights or When the Wolves were Running. London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1935. First UK edition, first printing of the author's magical Christmas classic continuing the adventures of young Kay who finds himself suddenly drawn into a world of magic and danger when he encounters an old Punch and Judy man. Publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettering to spine and front cover, top edge stained blue, illustrated endpapers; with the price-clipped illustrated dustwrapper. A very good copy, with binding square and a little loosened, with mild wear to corners and the lightly-bumped spine tips, a little light foxing to the closed text block and a few small ear marks throughout. In the original dustwrapper that recently underwent a comprehensive, non-invasive conservation treatment by the wonderfully-talented conservator Charlotte Nickels of Paperback Conservation, based in Dorset, UK. The dustwrapper - that was in a somewhat poor initial state, foxed with slight loss - was dry cleaned and carefully washed to remove surface dirt, reduce acidic discolouration, and strengthen the paper fibres, followed by deacidification to neutralise acidity and provide long-term protection. Tears and losses were repaired with fine Japanese tissue and wheat starch paste, with subtle infilling and retouching to visually reintegrate the original design. All repairs carried out can be seen on the reverse of the wrapper. The dust jacket is now safe in an archival wrapper.

[both housed in]

A beautifully-crafted Box of Delights replica by the talented Rosy Gray of Black Cat Bindery in Somerset, UK. The box is bound in full hand-dyed leather with a rich, mottled patina with areas of wear suggesting age, all features that partially echo Masefield’s description of the original box in the story. Fine gilt tooling frames the panels and corners, and a particularly charming detail is the small gilt rose motif, a direct nod to the passage in which Kay discovers the gold-inlaid groove and rose-bud knob that unlocks the box’s powers. On opening, the box reveals a deep red velvet-lined interior with two silk lifting ribbons (one for each book) and a windowed panel set into the inside of the lid, displaying the signatures of both John Masefield and Judith Masefield placed in an archival-grade transparent folder. Raised brass feet, a fitted clasp, a leather tag are all additional touches that make the box look old, aged and slightly wonky, as if it is a magical object that stepped straight from the pages of The Box of Delights.

A beautiful and rather unique pairing, and certainly one of this bookseller's favourite offerings from our selection.

A few notes

First published in 1935 in an inexplicably-low print run (only 7,500 copies as opposed to the 1927 prequel that had been published in an edition of 15,000 copies), The Box of Delights is a comparatively scarce book, and copies in the original dust jacket are rare. Most of Masefield's other titles were also published in signed limited issues, including The Midnight Folk, but The Box of Delgihts received no such treatment.

The novel was first adapted for radio in 1943, with repeats or new adaptations in 1948, 1955, 1966, 1977, 1995, and 2011. A BBC television series starring Robert Stephens, Patricia Quinn, and Patrick Troughton aired for the first time in 1984. Musical adaptations were staged in 1994 and 1996, while theatrical productions followed in 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2023-24. An audio version featuring Derek Jacobi was released in 2021 and another one more recently in November 2025 featuring Caius Nicholas. Numerous writers, including Angela Carter, Alan Garner, Neil Gaiman and C. S. Lewis, have acknowledged the book’s influence on their works and writing. The book has become a cherished seasonal favourite in Britain.

"Long before Harry Potter, The Box of Delights remade children's fantasy." (Piers Torday, The Guardian, 30 November 2017)