Cover serves as title page.
BOOBY / the / BEAR / BY CAPTAIN JOHN VASSOS / SEE WHAT HAPPENED TO BOOBY WHO DIDN'T KNOW ANY BETTER / [image of Booby sitting, grinning, on an ice floe]
150 x 220mm. Single section pamphlet; wrapper in blue and white; produced by the 911th Engineer Air Force HQ Company; lettered by Sgt. H. Wall and rendered by Sgt. P. Ruse. Collection of SUL.
i cover/title ii foreword iii-xiv text xv colophon xvi "publisher's" logo = 8 leaves
This copy held by the Syracuse University Library and inscribed "to my dear friend Martin who joined in this fight, as in many other "encounters" for many years past. With much affection in Casablanca from his Major (problem) Vassos. June 2nd in Darkest Africa."
This pamphlet, produced during the Second World War, served to educate the troops on the importance of proper camouflage. In this story, our "hero" is a silly bear, "who like so many of us, did not pay any attention to some simple lessons because Booby thought it was not important enough, and besides, his mind was full of other ideas. This story has a moral because, like all stories it comes to an end, as did Booby. We won't tell you what happened now because this is only a foreword, and we want you to see what actually did happen to this bear." His end? Well, "he is not a rug in a Trophy Room, still with that same self satisfied and silly smile."
The E.P. Dutton archives (1) contained a synopsis of the story (dated 3.23.1943) which indicates that Vassos had most likely intended to republish it again and an explanation of why this title had been rejected. The reason was that a story very similar in plot had been written by Marjorie Flack for Viking Press about a penguin. The review remarked that that title is still selling well and if Booby were published now it would appear as a direct act of plagiarism, even though it wasn't.
1. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, Vassos, John and Ruth, Correspondence.