Les Aventures de Lucette, 1.—jeux de mains

An erotic short story illustrated with nine vintage photographs of a young blonde cisgender White woman who enters her humble room, undresses, then pleasures herself while perusing a clandestinely published erotic novel, the pseudonymous Louis de Cerdagne's L'Autre chose (1942).

The text in Les Aventures de Lucette consists of a letter from Lucette to her university classmate, Monique, written in proper cursive on graph paper of the sort common in French school notebooks. The work is typical of French erotica of the first half of the 20th century in its mixing of heterosexual and lesbian themes—but distinctive in portraying women as users of erotica.

Artisanally produced with cheap materials and technical means that would have been available to any photographer with a darkroom, Les Aventures de Lucette is not so much a publication as a work of underground erotic folk art. The photos of text are tipped in verso with the facing recto featuring a photo illustrating the tale; the model's face is coyly hidden.

The styles of clothes, hair and interior decor seen in the photos suggest the album was produced in the mid-1940s, not long after publication of the novel portrayed in the photos.

NOTE: Minor denting to corners; denting to outside margin of leaves at punch holes; lower punch hole on final leaf torn.