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 755 of 3781
YEAR 1797 · Entry 755
French
p. 1509La dame de Charité de Greuze et sa fille. On voit bien que c’est un enfant qu’elle n’a pas fait, mais qu’elle a reçu.
Tacite. Ce qui nous reste de ses ouvrages nous a été conservé par un monastère de Westphalie où ils furent découverts vers l’an [ ] du siècle. (Vid. Bayle, art. Tacite). Ainsi ses écrits doivent leur durée à cette même Germanie où aucun écrit, aucunes lettres n’étoient connus lorsqu’il se plaisoit à en décrire le climat, l’histoire et les mœurs.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1797
p. 1510Greuze’s Lady of Charity and her daughter. One can plainly see that this is a child she has not made, but received.
Tacitus. What remains of his works was preserved for us by a monastery in Westphalia, where they were discovered around the year [ ] of the century. (See Bayle, article Tacitus). Thus his writings owe their survival to that very Germania where no writing, no letters were known when he took pleasure in describing its climate, history, and customs.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1797 · Entry 755
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.