The publishing firm Edition Nautilus was founded in 1975 by Pierre Gallissaires, Hanna Mittelstädt and Lutz Schulenburg. All three were engaged in the movement associated with May 68, in Paris as well as in Germany.
As a result of that they tried to keep the undogmatic, spontaneous spirit of the 70s alive, along with the leftist political traditions of that time, while also endeavouring to rediscover the political, literary, left-wing and non-dogmatic pioneers of the 1920s.
From the outset their publications included texts of a political, anarchist, Dadaist and situational nature, though room was soon made for literary texts from new writers as well.
A distinguishing brand of the firm is the collection Little library for the hand and the head in which many forgotten modern classics were published, including works from Enrico Baj, Max Ernst, Richard Hülsenbeck, Francis Picabia, Kurt Schwitters, the surrealists and Tristan Tzara.