>>> (load-library "diary")
>>>
>>> This calls the function load-library with the string argument "diary".
>>> This form can be added to .emacs. Alternatively, you can use the
>>> require form that I posted:
>>>
>>> (require 'diary)
>>
>> I obtain (also for (load-library "diary") ):
>> File error: Cannot open load file, diary
>>
>> I assume I'm missing some diary.el (?).
>>
>
> Nope, I'm wrong: diary-anniversary is in diary-lib, so the
> correct form is
>
> (load-library "diary-lib")
>
> or
>
> (require 'diary-lib)
okay, that's also what I tried and it worked. However, I still see the "Bad sexp..." error when there is a BIRTHDAY tag *without* date, so just a line containing ":BIRTHDAY:" But that's of course not a big issue.