Tuesday 30 June 2020

The Little Black Book (vidi vici veni)



"Megadonna"

"Witch Hazel"

"Jane Playne"

"Captain Jessie Belle"

"Villora-Zar"


"Celeste Goodheart"

"Kitty Kain"

"The Wife"


The Little Black Book Cover

A "Little Black Book" was something of a quasi-mythic thing, long before phones and social media absorbed physical address books. It was associated with promiscuous men and women, who'd record the contact details of their sexual partners. Many would claim to have such a book, but few actually did. Which is why it was rare to actually see one. Someone always knew someone who had one.

Its origins seem to stem from Henry VIII who was believed to have kept a "book of sin." This particular book, however, was probably used more to note his enemies, rather than a book of sexual conquests, but. it was that "sin" part of it which evolved into something which became the iconic "Little Black Book" we refer to today. Now, it's relegated itself to being nothing more than a common turn of phrase.

But, because it was such an iconic thing, I thought it might be a good idea to reference it with the above artwork. The one I've done is obviously fictitious, echoing the almost mythic nature they had. It's drawn with a 2B pencil in a small, eight page, A7 pad I made for myself. The comments, the tallies, and even the reworked latin phrase on the cover, pretty much sum up what they were and how they were used.

They were certainly of their time.