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 100 of 3781
YEAR 1786. · Entry 100
French
p. 19910 novembre 1786.
Lantara ne se servoit jamais que d’un seul pinceau qu’il essuyoit à ses joues ou à son bras. Il prétendoit que le linge en netoyant un pinceau le rendoit toujours gras du duvet qui se détachoit et nuisoit ainsi à la pureté et à la délicatesse du trait. Il croyoit aussi qu’il y avoit un avantage à se servir du même pinceau. C’est que, retenant toujours quelque teinte de la couleur qu’on venoit d’essuyer, il en laissoit apercevoir le mélange sur la toile et donnoit ainsi plus d’harmonie à tous les tons.
Ce peintre si exact et si grand dans le paysage n’entendoit rien d’ailleurs aux figures. Il n’auroit pas su dessiner un œil, etc...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1786.
p. 200November 10, 1786.
Lantara never used more than one brush, which he wiped on his cheeks or his arm. He maintained that linen, in cleaning a brush, always left it clogged with the lint that came away, thus harming the purity and delicacy of the stroke. He also believed there was an advantage in using the same brush. It was that, always retaining some tint of the color just wiped away, it let the mixture show on the canvas and thus gave greater harmony to all the tones.
This painter, so exact and so great in landscape, understood nothing of figures, however. He could not have drawn an eye, etc...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1786. · Entry 100
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.