Why would Random House ask for its own books???

[Scot Kamins]

Folks,

In searching in the New York Times historic database, I ran across an  
ad from Random House (December 8, 1968) addressing a plea to the  
general public. The ad says (in part) "Random House is now revising  
its entire Modern Library series and needs copies of these books..."  
The ad includes a list of titles wanted "for editorial purposes and  
for reproduction." See the ad here:

http://www.modernlib.com/68.12.jpg

Some of the titles in the list had recently been published. So how  
could it be that Random House didn't have copies of its own library  
-- especially recently published titles?



Scot Kamins
............................
"Great spirits have always encountered
violent opposition from mediocre minds."
                                    -Albert Einstein