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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Facing Pages · Branch 555 of 3781
YEAR 1796 · Entry 555
French
p. 1109En 1752, les théologiens protestants à la tête desquels étoit Vernet de Genève consultèrent quelque scavans français sur la question « s’il convenoit d’employer le tutoyement (au lieu du vous singulier) dans une version de la bible qui se préparoit ». Fontenelle et Montesquieu furent consultés. (Vid. Mémoires pour servir à la vie de Fontenelle, p. 159.)
Le tu au lieu du vous introduit dans notre langue une bizarrerie si peu bizarre et une confusion si peu embarrassante que dès le plus jeune âge les enfans se servent habituellement de ce tu et se démêlent sans aucune hésitation de toutes les difficultés dont ses aplications semblent la hérisser. Ils en observent très bien les règles sans aucune réflexion et comme par instinct. Ce tu singulier, incorporé d’ailleurs essentiellement dans nos langues modernes par la pratique qu’ont observée à cet égard jusques à ce jour tous les bons écrivains, ce tu singulier, dis-je, est pour les modernes une richesse véritable. Avec lui sont entrées dans nos langues une nuance et une couleur de plus.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I: YEAR 1796
p. 1110In 1752, the Protestant theologians headed by Vernet of Geneva consulted some French scholars on the question “whether it would be fitting to use tu (instead of the singular vous) in a version of the Bible then being prepared.” Fontenelle and Montesquieu were consulted. (See Mémoires pour servir à la vie de Fontenelle, p. 159.)
Tu in place of vous introduces into our language an oddity so little odd and a confusion that causes so little difficulty that, from their earliest years, children habitually use this tu and find their way without any hesitation through all the difficulties with which its applications seem to make our language bristle. They observe its rules very well, without any reflection and as though by instinct. This singular tu, moreover, essentially incorporated into our modern languages by the practice all good writers have followed in this respect to this day, this singular tu, I say, is a true richness for the moderns. With it, one more shade and one more color have entered our languages.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume I · YEAR 1796 · Entry 555
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.