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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French Page · Branch 30 of 3781
YEAR 1783 · Entry 30
French
p. 59On voit par le bas de leurs jambes qu’elles aimeroient à montrer tout ce qu’elles ont de beau. Et ce plaisir de montrer sa beauté est naturel surtout aux femmes dont les formes sont plus belles que le visage. Etc.
« Marchons, et faisons désirer aux hommes de pouvoir nous considérer couchées. »
Decouvrés-moi et...
C’est ainsi qu’elles semblent dire.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1783
p. 60No individual date printed
One can see from the lower part of their legs that they would like to show everything beautiful they have. And this pleasure in showing one’s beauty is natural especially to women whose forms are more beautiful than their faces. Etc.
“Let us walk, and make men wish they could look at us lying down.”
Uncover me and...
This is what they seem to say.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1783 · Entry 30
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.