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 76 of 3781
YEAR 1786. · Entry 76
French
p. 1511ᵉʳ août 1786.
L’homme imite d’abord les objets qu’il voit ou que d’autres ont imités. Il représente ensuite ses propres conceptions. C’est là le comble de l’art.
Le plus beau point de vuë d’un tableau est celui d’où les objets peints prennent du relief ; le plus beau point de vuë d’un édifice est celui d’où toutes ses parties saillantes paroissent planes ; cette planitude apparente qui naît de l’accord des inégalités entre elles, jouë à l’œil et donne à l’imagination un plaisir que l’aspect d’un corps réellement uni et plat ne peut pas lui donner. Le mérite de celui-ci est de paroître inégal et divisé par des saillies. En un mot, sans illusion, il n’y a point de plaisir dans les arts.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1786.
p. 152August 1, 1786.
A person first imitates the objects they see or that others have imitated. They then represent their own conceptions. This is the height of art.
The finest vantage point for a painting is the one from which the painted objects stand out in relief; the finest vantage point for a building is the one from which all its projecting parts appear flat. This apparent flatness, born of the harmony among its irregularities, deceives the eye and gives the imagination a pleasure that the sight of an actually smooth, flat body cannot give it. The merit of such a body lies in appearing uneven and divided by projections. In a word, without illusion there is no pleasure in the arts.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1786. · Entry 76
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.