Not long after the publication of Cantique des cantiques, Fernand Dantan collected a further series of erotic drawings, this time mostly depicting lesbian and group scenes, and produced them as a sort of postscript or afterthought. This collection has no formal title, so we have called it Plaisirs érotiques (Erotic Pleasures). It too was housed in an unprinted étui, and was probably produced in just 100 copies. Many of the sets of both collections have since been dispersed, so complete sets are now very scarce.

We know nothing of Dantan’s personal life, but it is obvious that his drawings are done from life, and many using the same models. He clearly knew how to convey erotic energy, so probably knew something of it himself.

Later the same year these Dantan drawings were used again to illustrate an edition of Émilienne, ou les amours ambiguës (Émilienne, or Ambiguous Loves), by ‘un académicien passionné’. Émilienne was published by Jacques Haumont, in a limited numbered and boxed edition of 511 copies, and at the same time in a smaller limited edition of 350 copies by Au cercle du livre précieux. Interestingly, the artist’s name given in both printings is ‘F. Dannat’; whether this is a misprint or an attempt to obfuscate we shall probably never know.