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 1821 · Entry 8150

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English Page · Branch 4369 of 4529

YEAR 1821 · Entry 8150

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8737

Avec ses gravitations, ses impénétrabilités, ses atractions, ses impul[…]sions, et toutes ces forces aveugles dont les scavans font tant d[…] bruit, et avec ses énormes masses qui font tant de peur à nos yeux[…] qu’est-ce que toute la matière, qu’un grain de métal évidé, un grai[…] de verre rendu creux, une bulle d’eau bien soufflée où le clair-obscu[…] fait son jeu; une ombre enfin où rien ne pèse que sur soi, n’est impénétrable que [pour] soi, n’attire ou ne retient que soi ou ce qui es[…] analogue à soi et ne semble fort et immense qu’à l’extrême exiguité[…] à la petitesse infinie des portiuncules ou particules de ce tout, qu[…] est à peu près rien.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1821

p. 8738

With its gravitations, its impenetrabilities, its attractions, its [impulses], and all these blind forces about which the learned make so much noise, and with its enormous masses that so frighten our eyes, what is all matter but a hollowed grain of metal, a [grain] of glass made hollow, a well-blown bubble of water in which [light and shade] play their game; a shadow, finally, in which nothing weighs except upon itself, is impenetrable except [to] itself, attracts or retains anything but itself or what [is] analogous to itself, and seems strong and immense only to the extreme smallness, the infinite littleness of the portiuncules or particles of this whole, [which] is next to nothing.

T58.All four opening plural forces, two with phrases, all, so much, the hollowing/bubble image and repeated itself remain. [Impulses], [grain], [is] and [which] contextually render impul[…]sions, grai[…], es[…] and qu[…]; the broad English brackets do not imply that the visible French letters are missing. [Light and shade] is the broader contextual rendering of clair-obscu[…], so its intact components also fall within the English bracket. Damaged d[…] before bruit has no separate lexical counterpart in so much noise and is not silently certified. Yeux and exiguité are complete, but their following source markers leave punctuation uncertain; English supplies the commas after eyes and extreme smallness without claiming recovered source marks or missing words. The complete letters in impé-/nétrable join without a new lexical loss merely because the wrap hyphen is uncertified. Printed [pour] has contextual English [to], distinct from reproduction-loss brackets. The negative rien is carried through the weighs/is/attracts series; only limits the last seeming. Literal atractions and scavans remain in French; portiuncules retains the marked diminutive beside particles without an independently authenticated etymology. The source final period is retained rather than replaced by a question mark.

T131.The right margin retains impul before next-line sions, d, grai, clair-obscu, es and qu without complete missing endings. The complete impé-/nétrable letter sequence can be joined at the qualified level: the é is identifiable in color although the line-end hyphen is not certified. No extra lexical gap is inserted solely for that wrap mark. Yeux and exiguité remain identifiable complete words, but their clipped adjoining edges do not certify any terminal comma. The two following markers represent suspected punctuation gaps whose presence/extent remain uncertain; no lost word is asserted. Literal atractions has one t; scavans and portiuncules remain. Printed [pour] is a roman source-editor supplement. All four plural forces, both avec clauses, the semicolon, repeated restrictive clauses and final approximate rien remain. The second phrase is ses énormes masses, not an inferred demonstrative. The source has no terminal question mark; its final point remains.

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.