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

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

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

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II1812 · Entry 6406

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English Page · Branch 2625 of 4529

1812 · Entry 6406

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 5249

[…] juillet.

Il y a une sorte de netteté et de franchise de style qui tient à l’hu[…]eur et au tempéramment comme la franchise du caractère. On peut […]imer, mais on ne doit pas l’exiger. Voltaire l’avoit, les anciens ne […]voient pas. Ces Grecs inimitables avoient toujours un style vrai, un […]yle convenable, un style agréable et aimable, mais non pas un style […]anc. Cette qualité est d’ailleurs incompatible avec d’autres qui sont […]sentielles à la beauté. Elle peut s’allier avec la grandeur, mais non […]ec la dignité. Il y a en elle quelque chose de courageux et de hardi, […]ais aussi quelque chose d’un peu brusque et d’un peu pétulant. Le […]ul Drancès dans Virgile a le style franc et en cela il est moderne, […] est françois.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: 1812

p. 5250

July […].

There is a kind of neatness and frankness of style that depends on [temper] and temperament, like frankness of character. One may [love it], but must not demand it. Voltaire had it; the ancients did not [have it]. Those inimitable Greeks always had a true style, a fitting [style], an agreeable and amiable style, but not a [frank] style. This quality is moreover incompatible with others [essential] to beauty. It can ally itself with greatness, but not [with] dignity. There is something courageous and bold in it, [but] also something a little brusque and a little impetuous. [Only] Drancès in Virgil has the frank style, and in this he is modern, [he] is French.

T213.The repeated frankness, modal distinction and true/fitting/agreeable/amiable sequence remain. Temper renders contextual humeur as disposition, distinct from temperament and from comic humor; it need not mean anger alone. Greatness remains distinct from dignity. Impetuous renders pétulant through the local courage/boldness/brusqueness sequence; no period dictionary reading is claimed for that adjective. Brackets interpret the ten damaged components as humeur, l’aimer, l’avoient, style, franc, essentielles, avec, mais, seul and il. The broader love it and have it include their lost object pronouns. Only is contextual seul from […]ul, not a certified source reading. No particular Virgil passage or missing July day is supplied; tempéramment remains literal in French.

T522.The day before juillet is wholly lost. The left edge interrupts hu[…]eur, […]imer, […]voient, […]yle, […]anc, […]sentielles, […]ec, […]ais and […]ul, and leaves an unresolved gap before the final est. Expected humeur / l’aimer / l’avoient / style / franc / essentielles / avec / mais / seul / il are contextual possibilities only. Tempéramment has the printed doubled m, confirmed in an original-resolution crop. Drancès and françois retain their source forms. The negative ne / pas and non pas are intact despite adjacent losses. No subject or possessive is restored at the margin.

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 II continues the notebooks and includes seventy undated pieces. 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.