The History & Arts Of The Dominatrix

The First Edition of  The History & Arts Of The Dominatrix
by Anne O Nomis (Collectors Edition)

'The History & Arts of the Dominatrix' is a scholarly account of the Dominatrix through the ages. Its author, a Masters graduate in archaeology and art, traces the ancient 'Dominatrix Goddess' in Mesopotamia who ruled over the ancient city of Uruk, with Dominatrix rituals involving gender transformation, punishment, pain, ecstasy and lamentations, and hymns and artworks in her honour. While in later history in Sparta, young men were whipped in honour of the Goddess Artemis Orthia, and a Whipstress with wings formed part of the 'Mysteries' in Pompeii.

In the secular era, the theme of female domination was exemplified by artworks of Aristotle the Great being dominated by Phyllis (paramour of Alexander the Great), and the role was taken up by a profession tailored to the secretive Dominatrix craft. In English history, one of their main specializations was flagellation, and Nomis presents rare prints and information gathered from 'forbidden books' in the British Library Rare Books collection, from the 17th-19th Centuries.

Within the 20th Century, Dominatrices practiced very discreetly within the 'underground', and with the help of magazine editors and insiders, some rare photographs and polaroids document some of the women in London, New York, The Hague and The Herbertstrasse. Lastly, the book considers contemporary Dominatrices, and their craft practices which she characterises as 'The Seven Realm Arts'.

The first book of its kind on the subject, the book is lavishly produced in a small-run limited edition of 2,000 copies worldwide. It has been designed by an award-winning book designer, Anna Egan-Reid, which takes inspiration from the Victorian 'Index Librorum Prohibitorum', with scarlet red headings, and a quarter-bound hardcover format. A real collector's item.