Physical description

Hard cover book. The Box of Delights
Author: John Masefield
Illustrator: Judith Masefield
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Date: 1935
Further Information: Navy blue cloth with pictorial end papers hardcover with lettering and patterning to spine in black. The spine has a Library label with an inscription.

Publication type

fiction

Inscriptions & markings

The label on the spine with typed text PAT FIC MAS
Paste down front end paper has a sticker from Corangamite Regional Library Service
Front loose end paper has a stamp from Warrnambool Mechanics Institute
Front loose end paper has a stamp from Corangamite Regional Library Service

Summary

The Box of Delights is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield, a sequel to The Midnight Folk, first published in 1935. Kay Harker is returning from boarding school when he finds himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box which allows the owner to shrink in size, to fly swiftly, to go into the past and to experience the magical wonders contained within. He's opposed by a wizard named Abner Brown and his gang of disguised bandits and witches masquerading as clergymen, and aided by talking animals, most memorably the cat Nibbins. It's a Christmas story at heart, steeped in English folklore, magic, and the atmosphere of a snowy Midlands winter.