Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
Explore the LexiconSwipe or use the arrow keys.
Facing Pages · Branch 119 of 3781
YEAR 1787 · Entry 119
French
p. 237ANNÉE 1787
14 janvier 1787.
Mercier rencontré dans un caffé. Quelle opinion il a des arts. Il n’estime dans l’architecture que le maçon. Une belle statue n’est pour lui qu’un objet inutile de luxe et de décoration. Il n’estime pas plus un beau tableau qu’un beau diamant. Il m’a dit qu’il vouloit incessamment publier un ouvrage pour prouver l’inutilité des beaux arts. Il s’exprimoit sur cet objet avec beaucoup de verve et de clarté. Il parloit de cela vraiment avec l’éloquence que donne une inimitié vive, réfléchie, et décidée.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1787
p. 238YEAR 1787
January 14, 1787.
Met Mercier in a café. What an opinion he has of the arts. In architecture he esteems only the mason. A beautiful statue is for him only a useless object of luxury and decoration. He esteems a beautiful painting no more than a beautiful diamond. He told me he intended shortly to publish a work to prove the uselessness of the fine arts. He expressed himself on this subject with much verve and clarity. He spoke of it truly with the eloquence given by a lively, considered, and determined enmity.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1787 · Entry 119
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.