(named after the Hindu monkey god Hanuman) was originally a 50 book series of very small books, formatted to resemble Indian prayer books. In 1986 Hanuman Books was founded and published by American art critic Raymond Foye and artist Francesco Clemente. The original series ran from 1986 to 1993 ^[1] out of the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. The series has since acquired a cult following ^[2] and in 2023 writer, art historian and theorist Shruti Belliappa and writer Joshua Rothes began a publishing project reimagining the legacy of the Hanuman Books legacy. ^[3]

The series concentrated on avant-garde cultural values of the time and included Dada writings, Beat poetry, gay and trans culture of the Andy Warhol Factory, San Francisco's North Beach and New York's Lower East Side art scenes, and the poets around Naropa Institute. Radical French authors, such as Jean Genet, Henri Michaux, René Daumal and Francis Picabia were mixed with Lower East Side writers like Cookie Mueller, Patti Smith, Allen Ginsberg and Gary Indiana. Artist Francesco Clemente made the logo and conceptualized the overall design of the series. ^[4] The books were distributed on an informal basis from the Chelsea Hotel.

History

Hanuman Books was founded by American art critic and editor Raymond Foye and Italian painter Francesco Clemente in 1986. The name – as well as the striking format – were influenced by Indian prayer books collected on a trip to India in 1985. "The books, small in size and bright in color, were always dedicated to the writings of a particular guru or saint, and were intended to be carried around with ease in a shirt pocket for potential contemplation throughout daily life." ^[2] The editors elected to publish a series of similarly designed books to showcase contemporary writing, hard-to-find translations, and "exquisite expressions" of poets and artists. They named the press after Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god.

They decided to publish twelve books a year in two batches of six, released in the spring and fall. Foye often chose younger American writers; Clemente sought out works in translation, including René Daumal, Henri Michaux, and Francis Picabia. Hanuman Books also approached well-known writers and visual artists, including John Ashbery, William Burroughs, Willem de Kooning, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, and Allen Ginsberg.

The administration and editorial functions were managed by Foye at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City. Clemente was responsible for crafting Hanuman Books logo, and also conceptualised the overall design.

Hanuman books were printed on a letterpress at C.T. Nachiappan's Kalakshetra Press in Madras (now Chennai), India. The pages were sewn together by local fishermen and others. All of the books have the same 3 in × 4 in (76 mm × 102 mm) dimensions except for René Ricard's God with Revolver, which exceeded the format's limit of twelve thousand words.

George Scrivani, who was the editor at Kalakshetra Press, liaised with Foye via telephone, fax and mail in order to exchange corrections, and then shipped the books by boat from Madras to New York. Indian obscenity laws affected the publication of two books. Cookie Mueller's Fan Mail, Frank Letters and Crank Calls contained a picture of Priapus, a Roman fertility god, which was deemed obscene, and the shipment was held up (though Hanuman Books eventually won the obscenity case, and those books not ruined by customs officials were successfully shipped to New York). Nachiappan himself destroyed the first print-run of Bob Flanagan's Fuck Journal in order to avoid prosecution under anti-obscenity laws, which applied to printers as well as publishers. He was convinced by Foye to print five hundred clandestine copies, however, which were smuggled to the United States.

The books were distributed on an informal basis from the Chelsea Hotel. The editors also employed professional distributors (e.g. Sun and Moon Press in Los Angeles, Small Press Distribution in Berkeley) which placed Hanuman books in bookstores and museums. They were often sold near cash registers because of their unique size, and sold for four or five dollars.

The last Hanuman books in the original series were published in 1993.