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 524 of 3781
YEAR 1796 · Entry 524
French
p. 1047Mettre son esprit en bouteilles. — Expression qui ressemble à une turlupinade, mais qui a un sens très sérieux. Cela se dit de ces esprits qui pour faire éclater leur feu ont besoin d’être contenus et comme captivés par un sujet fixe, un temps court. Alors ils éclatent et donnent des jets semblables à ces vins qui ne pétillent et ne montrent leur jeu que lorsque, enfermés dans un petit espace et contenus entre les murs d’une bouteille, leur fermentation se concentre et prend une vivacité que plus de liberté anéantiroit.
Les maisonnettes dans les bois...
Neiges. — Lorsque la toile en est levée...
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1796
p. 1048To bottle one’s mind.—An expression that sounds like a buffoon’s joke but has a very serious meaning. It is said of those minds that, to make their fire burst forth, need to be contained and, as it were, held captive by a fixed subject, a short time. Then they burst forth and send out jets like those wines that sparkle and show their play only when, enclosed in a small space and contained between the walls of a bottle, their fermentation concentrates and takes on a liveliness that greater freedom would destroy.
The little houses in the woods...
Snows.—When their curtain has been raised...
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1796 · Entry 524
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.