beforetime

Is this the beforetime for Johns, a memory of a time before he decided to be an artist, before he turned inward and began to live almost entirely in his head?

From Washington Post ● Sep. 29, 2021

At an early stage of Mona's reading he stopped her to say: "Men have been cast on desert islands beforetime, and too often they have been adrift on unknown seas."

From The Deemster by Sir Hall Caine

Then a wonderful thing happened, for Miss Norton, beforetime the cold, self-contained, strict house mistress, dropped her mask of reserve, and, throwing a tender arm round Eric, began a tale of elves and fairies.

From A Patriotic Schoolgirl by Balliol Salmon

The Lord Lovel, too, a bitter enemy of the reigning prince, who had fled to the court of Burgundy beforetime for protection, was entrusted with a command in the expedition.

From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by John Roby

The flood-gates of his affections may have been opened, and he may have become receptive to influences which had upon him beforetime little or no effect.

From How to be Happy Though Married Being a Handbook to Marriage by Edward John Hardy