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 715 of 3781
YEAR 1797 · Entry 715
French
p. 1429Dimanche 5 mars.
Il doit y avoir dans le gosier de petits vaisseaux qui le tapissent et en causent le velouté. Ils rendent la voix moëlleuse à son passage. Ils la moulent et donnent de la rondeur à tous nos sons. La criaillerie les casse. Et alors il se fait des aspérités dans le tuyau du porte-voix. Sa surface intérieure, auparavant unie et douce, devient inégale, hérissée. Elle rend notre parler aigre. En formant l’humeur des enfans et en ne permettant à leur ton rien de haut et d’impérieux on travaille à former leur voix.
Il y a de tels mots rudes. Le velouté du porte-voix en est râclé.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1797
p. 1430Sunday, March 5.
There must be small vessels lining the throat and giving it its velvet. They soften the voice as it passes. They mold it and give roundness to all our sounds. Shrieking breaks them. Then rough places form in the tube of the speaking trumpet. Its inner surface, formerly smooth and soft, becomes uneven, bristling. It makes our speech harsh. In shaping children’s temper and allowing nothing loud or imperious in their tone, one works to shape their voice.
There are such harsh words. They scrape the velvet of the speaking trumpet.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1797 · Entry 715
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.