Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I[ON KANT.] · Entry 2274

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[ON KANT.] · Entry 2274

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 4547

17 décembre.

Que c’est toujours par l’au delà et non par l’en deça que toutes les langues se corrompent. Par l’au delà du bruit de leur son ordinaire, de leur naturelle énergie, de leur éclat habituel, etc. C’est le fracas qui accompagne leur décadence et le luxe qui les corrompt.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: [ON KANT.]

p. 4548

December 17.

That it is always by going beyond and not by staying this side that all languages are corrupted. By going beyond the noise of their ordinary sound, their natural energy, their usual brilliance, etc. It is clamor that accompanies their decline and luxury that corrupts them.

S1.Source editor’s annotationThis paragraph and the preceding one (“Every critic...” do not come from the notebooks, but from a separate copybook that begins thus: “15 Xbre 180[…] The others...” I do not know what “The others” means. (In the series The Systems, there is the system of the Other.) Joubert takes notes on volumes IX and X of La Harpe. Very elliptical notes that it is pointless to reproduce. At the end, the date of December 17.

T172.Going beyond and staying this side preserve au delà and en deça as opposed directions. The sound, energy, and brilliance are the measures exceeded. Luxury remains the term repeated in the following page’s reflection.

T173.This one annotation applies to both Every critic and the following paragraph on languages, with its printed call only after the latter. The missing parenthesis after the first quotation remains missing. Xbre is December; the damaged final year digit remains unfilled. Beaunier’s decision not to reproduce the other notes is retained as his editorial statement.

T332.The closing parenthesis after the first quoted incipit is absent in the print. The year’s last digit is clipped after 180; not supplied by chronology. Other unambiguous clipped word endings are restored.

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.