Would you sell this?

[ChristineK]

I found a 1989 copy of “The Anarchist’s Cookbook” on the curb in what looked like an estate clean out a couple of weeks ago. I just looked it up and it’s worth quite a bit…but it also looks like it has recipes for pot brownies, instructions on growing pot, instructions on making explosives, etc. in it. Others have been sold on Ebay, although none of the original book look to be available now. My friend says this is more of a collectible now and all this info is on the web anyways. I’m still not sure it’s good to sell this though. I want to hear the opinions of other scavengers.

ETA – There are reprints on Amazon and B&N for like $20, but the reviews all say a lot of stuff is left out. I assume that’s for a reason??

• This topic was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by ChristineK.
• This topic was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by ChristineK.

[Inglewood]

I wouldn’t sell it – just for personal peace of mind.

I remember a guy in my grade in High School in about Grade 10/11 tried making explosives from a copy he had. He went to a local farm to play around with some chemicals, disfigured himself really bad and caused a lot of damage.

I know this stuff is out there, I just would feel guilty if I provided the information to someone who does something stupid with it. If they do something really stupid, you probably don’t want to be part of an investigation as the supplier of the information that caused something really bad to happen.

[ChristineK]

Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking. Thanks!

[antarestar]

I would sell it. You can look any of that stuff up on youtube and get step by step instructions.

I just looked up the prices. For $100, you bet I would sell it.

[ChristineR]

I would not sell it. There are so many other things to sell for profit, it’s not worth any risk.

[ebaymom]

Can’t believe you found that on the curb! Well, the author, William Powell, died last year, and would not have wanted you to sell it:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/30/anarchist-cookbook-author-william-powell-dies-aged-66

But many people are looking for “the original” and it most definitely has value – I would probably stow it away in a locked filing cabinet for historical purposes – maybe you can sell it to a museum in the future ? I would hate to destroy it, but I wouldn’t want to sell it on eBay into the hands of a future school shooter…

[Jay]

I’m on “team sell it”. As your friend said, all that info (and much more) is available online. And most of that info is outdated anyway. The real anarchists are 3-D printing guns from plans downloaded online!

[ChristineK]

EbayMom that’s what I was thinking…lock it away somewhere and maybe someday in the future it will be a museum piece lol.

UGH, for sure you’re right Jay. Anarchists are definitely going towards the DIY guns online. Recipes for making DIY pot farms and exploding tennis balls are probably quaint by comparison.

This was an estate clean-out onto the curb (it’s where I found the persian rug too), and the person was way into guns, ammo, and what I’d call “prepper” type stuff. I’ve sold a bunch of vintage books from those boxes on weirdly specific types of guns and knives. They sell fast! This looks to be the most valuable book in the boxes though.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by ChristineK.

[aperture]

The book may appeal to people that might want to know how to do some pretty terrible things with the information inside. But that same information is available online, including scanned copies of the book:
https://uniteyouthdublin.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/anarchist-cookbook-william-powell.pdf

I would sell it in a heartbeat and not look back.

[Steven S]

Sell it, period. Nothing new under the sun in that book, it’s all on the internet.
Remember, you’re a retailer not a censor.

[Liz]

Sell it. Most people looking for that book are wanting it for their collection, not as an instruction manual for evil-doing.

[Author]

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