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 1816 · Entry 7674

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English Page · Branch 3893 of 4529

YEAR 1816 · Entry 7674

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7785

27 octobre.

Les vers bizarres de Ducis : Pour une œuvre sans nom un monstre invraisemblable. — Avec art et génie et joye il désola... Cela n’est pas sans vérité. Il fit en effet une œuvre sans nom, sans consistance, sans durée, et il la fit avec art, avec génie, avec joye.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1816

p. 7786

October 27.

The strange verses of Ducis: For a nameless work an improbable monster. — With art and genius and joy he laid waste... This is not without truth. He did indeed make a nameless work, without substance, without duration, and he made it with art, with genius, with joy.

T143.The introductory phrase, two verse lines and commentary remain one source paragraph, with hard line breaks for the verse. The first line remains nominal and the second leaves the object of désola unstated. The three repeated with phrases and three without phrases remain. Substance renders consistance as solidity or coherence, with stability also in its period range, rather than solely subject matter; the complete 1798 Académie entry supports these related possibilities without fixing one exclusively; no work or quotation source is independently identified.

T309.The complete 27 remains. One paragraph contains introductory prose, two indented roman verse lines and prose resuming at the continuation margin; three internal newlines record that display without adding paragraphs. The first verse has its period then dash, the second a printed three-dot ellipsis. The first verse’s nominal syntax remains without an added verb or comma. Joye retains y in both occurrences. The verse repeats et; the prose repeats sans three times and avec three times. Both simple-past fit verbs, en effet and double-negative pas sans remain. Cela and consistance retain identifiable initial letters in color.

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.