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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French Page · Branch 743 of 3781
YEAR 1797 · Entry 743
French
p. 148524 mars. attend. Mᵉ de Bⁿᵗ sur le chemin.
Nos idées, c’est-à-dire les images que nous nous sommes formé[es] des qualités, nous les représentent et sont en nous comme des tableaux suspendus dans un cabinet. Quand il s’agit de juger, c’est-à-dire d’appliquer les qualités aux objets, nous consultons nos idées, nous jettons intérieurement nos yeux sur ces images comme pour examiner si elles peuvent quadrer avec la réalité qui se présente. Nous faisons ce que feroit un homme qui auroit entre ses mains un portrait ou un signalement et qui voudroit savoir si l’individu qu’il rencontre ou qu’on lui dénonce est celui qui lui fut dépeint et qu’il est chargé de chercher.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1797
p. 1486March 24. awaiting Mᵉ de Bⁿᵗ on the road.
Our ideas, that is, the images we have formed of qualities, represent them to us and are within us like paintings hung in a study. When it is a matter of judging, that is, of applying qualities to objects, we consult our ideas; inwardly we turn our eyes on these images as if to examine whether they can fit the reality that presents itself. We do what a man would do who held a portrait or a description in his hands and wished to know whether the individual he meets or who is pointed out to him is the one described to him and whom he is charged with seeking.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1797 · Entry 743
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.