[Ads-l] Technique to search for years in Google Books (was Antedating "machine head")

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

John Doe wrote:
> (Note: I can't find the actual date printed anywhere in the book,
> so I'm relying on Google Books ro be accurate with its dates.)

It is irritating when the front matter of a volume does not list any
year. Sadly, the year specified in the Google Books metadata is not
reliable in this situation. Here is one strategy for approximating the
date. One may use the number range operator to attempt to find a year
listed within a book.

A Google search query may include two numbers separated by two
periods. The Google search engine will attempt to find numbers which
fall within the range specified by the two numbers.

For example, suppose you think a book was published in the nineteenth
century then you may execute the following query:

Link to book:
https://books.google.com/books?id=qBwGAAAAQAAJ&

Query:
1800..1899

Searching within "Amateur Work Illustrated" (year 1773 according to
Google Books metadata) with this query reveals many pertinent matches.
Pages display 1840, 1862, 1870, 1882, etc. Of course, one must examine
these numbers in context to see whether they correspond to dates or
something else, e.g., part numbers.

Query 1882-1899 shows some matches, but 1883-1899 shows no matches.

The date July 1, 1882 appears on the back cover beneath the words
"Cocoa-Nut Fibre Refuse"

The date above is a lower bound on the date of publication.

The query 1900..1999 reveals a match for 1953, but it is not a year.
It seems to be a part number.

Garson

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