Dates with Redacted Years in Old Books

The practice of redacting or omitting years from dates in old books is often associated with letter writing and diary keeping conventions of the past. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was common to date letters and diary entries with the day and month, but omit or abbreviate the year. This was partly due to the fact that many letters were written within a relatively short period, making the year obvious from the context. Additionally, omitting the year was a way to make the correspondence less formal and more intimate. When these letters were later published in book form, the dating style was often preserved, resulting in dates with redacted or omitted years.