Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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English Page · Branch 114 of 3781
YEAR 1786. · Entry 114
French
p. 227Nota optime. Les Pythagoriciens avoient des symphonies dont ils se servoient en se couchant pour appaiser les idées tumultueuses que les mouvemens de la journée laissent dans l’imagination... Ils en employoient d’un caractère opposé pour mieux mettre les esprits en mouvement en s’éveillant, et se rendre ainsi plus disposés à l’application. L’abbé Dubos pense que l’air de Lully appelé logistille dans l’opéra de Rolland est du premier genre, et que le premier air dansant du prologue d’Amadis du même musicien est de la seconde espèce (T. Iᵉʳ).
La figure antique que nous appellons l’Antinoüs est aussi appellée le Latin.
Marforio est évidemment un fleuve ; sa contenance couchée, son attitude penchée, son caractère aquatique et lavé, tout le prouve.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1786.
p. 228No individual date printed
Note very carefully. The Pythagoreans had symphonies they used at bedtime to calm the tumultuous ideas that the day’s agitations leave in the imagination... They used others of an opposite character on awakening, to set the spirits better in motion and thus make themselves more disposed to application. The Abbé Dubos thinks that Lully’s air called Logistille in the opera Roland is of the first kind, and that the first dance air in the prologue to Amadis, by the same musician, is of the second kind (Vol. I).
The ancient figure we call the Antinous is also called the Latin.
Marforio is evidently a river; his reclining bearing, his leaning posture, his watery and washed character: everything proves it.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1786. · Entry 114
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
Joubert’s notebooks return to the work of thinking and writing, the demands of friendship, and questions of faith, beauty and conduct. This edition pairs the French with a new English translation, preserving the order of the chosen source and the unfinished character of its fragments. Dates and source references allow readers to follow a thought through time or return to its printed context.
Historical Text and Translation
The French text follows André Beaunier’s 1938 edition of Les Carnets de Joseph Joubert, published by Gallimard from Joubert’s autograph manuscripts. Volume I presents the entries on printed pages 32–475. French and English are aligned paragraph by paragraph, retaining the source order, printed dates and page references so readers can return to the facsimile.
About Diotimos Editions
Diotimos Editions prepared this new English translation directly from the French, preserving Joubert’s distinctions, recurring images, ambiguities and unfinished thoughts. Translator’s notes clarify wording, references and uncertain readings: Essential keeps notes that help explain a passage, while All includes technical detail. Annotations from the 1938 source edition remain distinct from the new translator’s notes.
Rights
The linked facsimile records identify the French source as public domain in the United States. The new English translation and editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos, with source annotations and new editorial contributions credited separately. This edition pairs the complete French notebooks with an independent English translation, preserving the distinction between Joubert’s text and its accompanying notes.