This book contains a long narrative poem about a fox hunt first published in 1919. It was one of Masefield's most popular works, and has been compared in style to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The title refers to a figure from European folktale, Reynard the fox, a trickster who turns up in folk tales and poetry from as early at the twelfth century. In the grand tradition, Masefield's Reynard leads the hunters a merry dance, and escapes in the end. This copy of the poem is one of a limited edition, printed on hand made English paper in 1919. It was hand illustrated by the author; almost every page has a small watercolour and ink illustration, mainly of horses and riders, hounds, foxes, and English landscapes. Although one page sees a horse and two riders fire a canon from a boat, as Reynard escapes on an aeroplane. This embellished copy was presented to King George V in June of 1930. It bears an inscription from the poet to the king on the fly leaf. On the page opposite, the King has also inscribed the book with the words 'This book was illustrated for me / by the Poet Laureate himself' and his monogram 'GRI'. John Masefield was poet laureate from 1930 to his death in 1967. He was a prolific poet and fiction writer, and by the end of his life his volume of 'Collected Poems' had sold over 200,000 copies. This was an unprecedented figure for a modern poet, and spoke to his popularity with readers. Today, however, he is perhaps most well known as a children's writer, having authored such classics as The Midnight Folk (1927) and The Box of Delights (1935).