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 IIYEAR 1815 · Entry 7266

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French Page · Branch 3485 of 4529

YEAR 1815 · Entry 7266

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6969

Virgile n’eût été, au temps de Numa, qu’un villageois jouant du chalumeau. Si Ronsard étoit né à Caraïbe, il auroit été un togan. Tupia étoit prêtre à Otahiti.

Si Fénelon eût vécu sous Hugues Capet et n’avoit eu pour père qu’un laboureur, il n’eût été qu’un humble et pieux religieux ou un doux curé de village. Tertullien et Jurien auroient bouleversé le leur, eussent-ils été des valets. Bossuët, chez tous les peuples, dans tous les temps et dans toutes les conditions, se fût montré un homme d’un grand sens, d’un grand esprit, et seroit devenu l’oracle de sa ville, de son canton, de son hameau, de sa tribu, de ses voisins, de sa famille.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1815

p. 6970

In Numa’s time, Virgil would have been only a villager playing a reed pipe. If Ronsard had been born in Caraïbe, he would have been a togan. Tupia was a priest in Otahiti.

If Fénelon had lived under Hugh Capet and had had only a plowman for a father, he would have been only a humble, pious monk or a gentle village priest. Tertullian and Jurien would have turned theirs upside down, even had they been servants. Bossuet, among all peoples, in all times and in all conditions, would have shown himself a man of great sense, of great mind, and would have become the oracle of his town, his district, his hamlet, his tribe, his neighbors, his family.

T60.The two counterfactuals, restrictive only and separate statement about Tupia remain. Reed pipe renders chalumeau contextually, without specifying an exact instrument construction. Caraïbe, togan, Tupia and Otahiti retain their printed forms; togan’s particular historical sense is unresolved and is not silently replaced by a modern indigenous title. The last statement is translated as Joubert gives it, without an independently verified biographical claim.

T452.Two paragraphs remain one unit; the second continues across 816–817 between tous and les temps without a new paragraph or lost word. The conditional/counterfactual tense forms and all restrictive ne...que constructions remain literal, including the distinct étoit/auroit sequence for Ronsard and the inverted eussent-ils clause. In the French source, the names Caraïbe, Tupia, Otahiti, Tertullien, Jurien and Bossuët remain unmodernized; the small upper components in the diaereses retain color-reproduction qualifications. Original-size color distinctly reads togan; no cultural title or person is inferred from it. Chalumeau remains literal. All three universal settings for Bossuët, both grand terms and all six social possessive groups retain their order. The original-size incoming 817 strip supports complete les/grand/son beginnings despite margin show-through, without new gaps. The bounded independent comparison agrees with these named upper marks and incoming initials, retaining the stated contour limits.

T61.All counterfactuals, both only restrictions, the monk/priest alternative, the servants concession and all three universal circumstances remain. Monk renders the broad male religieux in context, without identifying an order. Theirs contextually refers to the preceding village; no missing noun is inserted in the body. All six oracle relations remain in order. The second paragraph continues through the opening three lines of 817.

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.