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 8157

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English Page · Branch 4376 of 4529

YEAR 1821 · Entry 8157

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8751

26 octobre.

Il est une lumière abstraite et qui colore l’évidence... Teintes..[…] L’intelligence. Son éclat pur cause ses joyes et sa diffusion secrett[…] fait toutes nos sérénités. Elle nous luit par elle-même, indépendamment des objets et de toute application. Elle montre dans son vra[…] jour tout ce qui ne peut pas se voir.

Notre esprit est comme notre œil; la lumière est ce qui l’éclaire e[…] ce n’est pas tout ce qui l’instruit.

Add. Direction au vrai. Eguille etc. D’où... La direction habituell[…] vers le vrai fait l’esprit juste et la tendance vers le beau et vers l’évident montre les esprits éminents.

Dans l’étude et dans le scavoir, son éclat fait toutes nos joyes e[…] sa diffusion secrette nos secrettes sérénités.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1821

p. 8752

October 26.

There is an abstract light, which also colors self-evidence... Tints.. Intelligence. Its pure radiance causes its joys, and its [secret] diffusion makes all our serenities. It shines for us of itself, independently of objects and of every application. It shows in its [true] light everything that cannot be seen.

Our mind is like our eye; light is what illuminates it, [and] it is not everything that instructs it.

Add. Direction toward the true. Needle, etc. Whence... [Habitual] direction toward the true makes the mind sound, and the tendency toward the beautiful and toward the evident shows eminent minds.

In study and in knowledge, its radiance makes all our joys, [and] its secret diffusion our secret serenities.

T74.The nominal interruptions, two dots after Tints, repeated light and unseeable/seen paradox remain. Self-evidence carries évidence’s immediate intellectual manifestness, supported by the 1798 Académie entry. Also preserves the printed et before qui colore. The possessive its remains open where intelligence/light may compete; no new subject is named. [Secret] and [true] contextually render secrett[…] and vra[…], with whole-word English brackets rather than recovered French endings. The marker after complete Teintes.. denotes only possible additional punctuation of uncertain presence and extent; English retains the two certain points without inventing a third point or a word. The earlier three points after évidence are printed ellipsis. Literal joyes remains in French; indépendamment is complete across the wrap and requires no lexical bracket. The complete October 26 date governs all four paragraphs, all roman.

T138.The complete October 26 date governs four paragraphs. The right margin retains secrett, vra, e, habituell and the later e without complete missing endings. The complete indépendam-/ment and évi-/dent letter sequences are joined; no lexical loss is inserted merely because their wrap hyphens fall in the damaged edge. Two complete baseline points survive after Teintes. Its following marker denotes only a suspected additional punctuation loss of uncertain presence/extent; it does not certify a third point or a missing word. The earlier three points after évidence and after D’où are printed ellipses. Literal joyes, secrett[…] and later complete secrette/secrettes, Eguille, scavoir and éminents remain. Add. stays inside the third body paragraph, without expansion or promotion to a heading. All text is roman.

T75.The mind/eye simile and illumination/instruction distinction remain. The negative limits light’s identity with all instruction; English does not silently invert the assertion. [And] is the contextual whole-word rendering of e[…], without certifying a recovered final t. The comma before this conjunction is English punctuation; the source has no comma there.

T76.Add. remains a manuscript cue in the body. Needle contextually renders literal Eguille in the nearby direction imagery without inserting compass. All fragments, repeated toward and the evident/eminent echo remain; sound renders juste contextually, not as a claim of moral righteousness. [Habitual] broadly renders habituell[…] without recovering its ending in French. Évident is complete across the wrap and receives no lexical bracket; literal éminents is preserved. The three points after D’où are printed ellipsis. English supplies the comma after Needle and the comma before and; neither is certified as French punctuation.

T77.Both in phrases, repeated secret, all and the omitted second verb remain. The possessive continues the light imagery without supplying a new named antecedent. [And] contextually renders the damaged e[…]; the preceding comma is supplied in English. French retains scavoir, joyes, secrette and secrettes. The two complete secret forms receive no reproduction-loss brackets.

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.