The History & Arts of the Dominatrix

This much-anticipated academic book is the illustrated treatise on the Dominatrix throughout history. Begun in 2009, it has taken four years to come to be published with artwork illustrated with permission of the highest museums and libraries in the world.

No book previously existed on the subject. Nomis set to work meticulously researching the most discreet and mysterious occupation of the Dominatrix. This book reveals the ancient roots of the Dominatrix lie within sacred rituals to a Goddess Inanna who ruled one of the most important cities of the ancient world, the city of Uruk (or Warka). With a Masters degree in archaeology and art history, Nomis has included exerts of a hymn to the Goddess with rites of gender transformation, punishment, pain and ecstasy, linked to the high en-priestess named Enheduanna, and images of the Goddess.

Into the English history record, the secular profession appears in books from the 17th Century and 18th Century, and flagellation prints of the Dominatrix in role of 'Whipstress' and 'School-Mistress'. The ladies providing birch discipline were interlinked with royalty, nobility, parliamentarians and secret societies. By the 19th Century, London held 20 sumptuously appointed discipline houses, run by 'Governess' Dominatrices, one of whom invented a special machine for whipping, known as the Berkley Horse.

In the 20th Century, the book presents rare vintage snapshots of mid-20th Century ladies of the 'bizarre underground' in time, space and place, from London, New York, The Hague and The Herbertstrasse. Lastly, Nomis examines the contemporary occupation of the modern-day Dominatrix, and contributes a theory of their 'Seven Realm Arts' characterizing their practices in a framework beyond the catch-all term of BDSM. This book is the seminal work on the subject of the Dominatrix, her history and her arts as a unique craft.

'Painstakingly researched...The quintessential treatise on dominant women throughout the ages...impressive work.' (David Jackson, DDI)

Illustrated with artwork and 86+ images from the British Museum, Iraq Museum, Penn Museum, Oriental Institute of Chicago, Fitzwilliam Museum of Cambridge University, Villa of Mysteries Pompeii, British Library Rare Books, Library of Congress Washington DC, National Portrait Gallery, Yale Center for British Art, Kinsey Institute, with vintage images by artist John Willie from Bélier Press, vintage Dominatrices from DDI Magazine, Atom Age and private collection, contemporary artwork by Natasha Gornik, Kate Peters, Phil Miller, Nuit' d'Or and Lucina Nathanael.

The book has been produced in a stunning first edition hardback, inspired by the Victorian 'forbidden book', with gold foil and quarter-bound, accentuating the art of book fetish. A special collector's release, it is available in a limited edition of 2,000 copies only, each individually numbered, available from the publisher website in the UK. (www.historyofthedominatrix.com)

Also available as an e-book, however without the beautiful design format of the hardcopy due to limitations of software associated with e-books.