Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I[LOCKE] · Entry 2444

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French Page · Branch 2444 of 3781

[LOCKE] · Entry 2444

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 4887

21 mars.

Certes il n’est pas fou, mais il est affolé.

Pag. 234. Il défile sa ratelée.

* L’eau aussi bien que le vin. Très bien remarqué.

* Dans le resserrement et l’obscurité du cabinet. En vérité il y a etc. — qu’on n’écrivit jamais au soleil (et en se promenant).

* Que les loixs soient semblables, passe. Mais les polices!

* Littérature. Elle est au pouvoir, mais n’a jamais été pouvoir constitué.

Pag. 260. Est-[ce] que le mahométisme n’a pas le sacrifice de l’aumône, celui du jeûne, du pèlerinage, de la dixme dans certains cas?

Id. Si peu philosophie qu’elle est toute révélation.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [LOCKE]

p. 4888

March 21.

Certainly he is not mad, but he has been driven mad.

Page 234. He reels off all he has to say.

* Water as well as wine. Very well observed.

* In the confinement and darkness of the study. Truly there is etc.—that one never wrote in the sun (and while walking).

* Let the laws be alike, so be it. But the systems of civil administration!

* Literature. It is in power, but has never been a constituted power.

Page 260. [Does] Mohammedanism not have the sacrifice of almsgiving, that of fasting, of pilgrimage, of the tithe in certain cases?

Id. So little philosophy that it is all revelation.

T117.Fou and affolé distinguish a condition from having been thrown into it. The translation retains their shared root rather than substituting a modern diagnosis.

T397.Native crop confirms ratelée without a circumflex. Printed loixs contains both x and s. The unusual Est-[ce] bracket/hyphen placement is printed. The left edge of page 329 damages initial letters, including continuations of constitué and aumône; completions follow surviving fragments. Final Si peu philosophie remains a fragment; no subject or copula is supplied.

T118.Défiler sa ratelée is treated as a colloquial expression for saying all one has to say in a run. It is not translated as the physical action of a rake.

T119.The source interrupts il y a with etc. before a clause beginning qu’on n’écrivit. The printed form is rendered as the past one never wrote. An imperfect-subjunctive reading is also possible within the broken construction, but the English does not turn it into an injunction. There is no exclamation mark after soleil.

T120.Polices has a broader historical scope than modern police forces. Systems of civil administration is adopted to keep the distinction from the laws themselves. The anomalous spelling loixs remains in French.

T121.In power follows au pouvoir closely; the terse phrase does not explain the nature of literature’s relation to power. The subsequent constituted power preserves the technical term under criticism.

T122.The French question contains the source editor’s supplied [ce] in Est-[ce]. [Does] represents the interrogative function in English, rather than its literal word. Mohammedanism renders Joubert’s historical term mahométisme for Islam. The forms of sacrifice remain his list.

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.