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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 IYEAR 1804 · Entry 3412

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Facing Pages · Branch 3412 of 3781

YEAR 1804 · Entry 3412

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6823

[…] février.

(post 19 annos, scilicet a martio 1785 in prgᵈ) pour Mʳ Sʳᵈ. [Suard.]

— il ne sculptoit ni la nature idéale, ni la nature apparente, mais la nature réelle, et telles qu’on pourroit la toucher, cherchant les moindres reliefs et les moindres enfoncemens etc. Une veine, un muscle, une ride, une verrue, un grain de petite vérole lui offroient autant d’éminences, d’enfoncemens, de cavités etc. importantes à indiquer, ne scachant pas que tout cela se voit avec un degré d’attention qui n’est frappé que de l’ensemble, etc. — et offrant une anatomie dans ce qui devoit être un tableau.

Nota. Essayer de faire un aveugle, sculpteur.

En 1783. L’ouvrage où j’avois été engagé par Diderot auroit dû se réduire à ce point ci : des perspectives pour l’esprit, et s’il peut se contenter sans elles; si la même étendue qui le rend capable de concevoir une grande idée ne lui rend pas inévitable le désir d’une gloire sans bornes; enfin si les « vastes pensées » et « le long espoir » ne sont pas naturellement, indissolublement liés. Etc.

En 1779. « La bienveillance universelle ». Le fonds manqua. Il auroit fallu déterminer « quelles en devoient être les bornes » et observer qu’il n’avoit pas eu le temps de rien déterminer, arrêtée au point décisif d’une si haute opération. Etc. Là, comme je l’ai dit, la matière manqua; et je ne scus pas le voir.

En 1785. Trop plein de mon enchantement, je me bornois à le peindre. (C’est ainsi que dans les vers après m’être ouvert une entrée dans la véritable poésie, il ne me fut plus possible de me contenter de la vulgaire; et trop nouveau dans l’autre, je les quittai toutes les deux.

Questions I. S’il faut, s’il est utile que tous les peuples soient mêlés et qu’ils aient un sort uniforme. Ou si la séparation entre frères vaut mieux que le commun malheur. — II. Des deux mondes (l’ancien et le moderne) le premier mieux borné peut être pour la capacité de l’esprit humain, de même qu’un horizon trop étendu détruit entièrement l’utilité et le plaisir que peut donner la perspective. Se resserrer, etc.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1804

p. 6824

February […].

(post 19 annos, scilicet a martio 1785 in prgᵈ) for Mʳ Sʳᵈ. [Suard.]

— he sculpted neither ideal nature nor apparent nature, but real nature, and as one could touch it, seeking the slightest reliefs and the slightest recesses, etc. A vein, a muscle, a wrinkle, a wart, a smallpox spot offered him so many elevations, recesses, cavities, etc. that it was important to indicate, not knowing that all this is seen with a degree of attention struck only by the whole, etc. — and offering an anatomy in what should have been a picture.

Nota. To try to make a blind man, a sculptor.

In 1783. The work in which I had been engaged by Diderot should have been reduced to this point: vistas for the mind, and whether it can be content without them; whether the same breadth that makes it capable of conceiving a great idea does not make the desire for boundless glory inevitable for it; finally, whether “vast thoughts” and “long hope” are not naturally, indissolubly bound together. Etc.

In 1779. “Universal benevolence.” The substance was lacking. One would have had to determine “what its bounds should be” and observe that he had not had time to determine anything, halted at the decisive point of so high an operation. Etc. There, as I have said, the material was lacking; and I did not know how to see it.

In 1785. Too full of my enchantment, I confined myself to painting it. (It was thus that in verse, after opening a way for myself into true poetry, I could no longer be content with the common kind; and, too new to the other, I left them both.

Questions I. Whether it is necessary, whether it is useful for all peoples to be mingled and to have a uniform fate. Or whether separation between brothers is worth more than shared misfortune. — II. Of the two worlds (the ancient and the modern), the first perhaps better bounded for the capacity of the mind of man, just as too wide a horizon entirely destroys the usefulness and pleasure that perspective can give. To confine oneself, etc.

T194.The Latin begins after 19 years, namely from March 1785. Its final in prgᵈ is not securely expanded. Mʳ Sʳᵈ and Beaunier’s supplied [Suard.] remain in the body. The retrospective years 1783, 1779 and 1785 later in this block do not replace its damaged February date.

T195.The unnamed he remains unnamed. Real nature is conceived as touchable, with reliefs and recesses; the paragraph nevertheless speaks of an attention struck only by the whole. That difficult contrast is not reversed. The French plural telles after singular nature cannot be marked naturally in English as one could touch it.

T196.The comma in un aveugle, sculpteur is retained. The fragment can suggest making a blind man a sculptor or composing the figure of a blind sculptor; the English does not supply a named example or settle the proposed experiment.

T197.Perspectives is rendered as vistas, keeping the breadth, distance and prospect of glory in view. The first-person I had been engaged by Diderot follows j’avois; the work is not attributed to a third person. The quoted phrases remain quotations without a supplied title.

S1.Source editor’s annotationHere, a series of notes of little importance relating to Seneca.

T198.Fonds is read as substance, with the later matière rendered as material. The source changes from impersonal Il auroit fallu to qu’il n’avoit, then prints feminine arrêtée without a secure antecedent. The English retains he and leaves halted unattached to a newly supplied noun.

T199.This is Beaunier’s report of notes he does not reproduce here, not a gap to fill by inventing or importing Seneca excerpts. His judgment of their limited importance remains in the separate source apparatus.

T200.The common kind renders la vulgaire without implying obscenity. The other refers back to true poetry; both are abandoned. The opening parenthesis remains unclosed because the source does not close it.

T201.Both numbered questions remain inside one paragraph. The two worlds are expressly ancient and modern; they are not converted into geographic continents. Perhaps retains the uncertainty about the ancient world’s bounds.

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.