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 IIMr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4887

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Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné. · Entry 4887

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 2211

10 novembre.

« Tous les hérésiarques, dit Bacon, ont été des hommes scavans. » Oui, mais aucun d’eux n’a été un homme d’esprit. Esprits secs ou fougueux, vrais « coupeurs de cumin », avides non de plaire et d’embellir, mais de dominer et de disséquer. « Airetikoi », diviseurs, séparateurs, dissécateurs, etc.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: Mr. Hochet and Mme de Sévigné.

p. 2212

November 10.

“All heresiarchs,” says Bacon, “have been learned men.” Yes, but none of them has been a man of wit. Dry or impetuous minds, true “cumin splitters,” eager not to please and embellish, but to dominate and dissect. “Heretics,” dividers, separators, dissectors, etc.

S1.Source editor’s annotationA notebook dated Monday, November 10, 1806, contains a series of extracts from Bacon, little commented upon but approved; elsewhere in his notebooks Joubert calls him “the great Bacon” (November 8).

T156.Heresiarchs names founders or leaders of heresies; wit distinguishes esprit from learning. Cumin splitters retains the unusual physical image rather than replacing it with hair-splitters. Heretics renders the printed Greek transliteration Airetikoi in context. The ensuing dividers, separators, and dissectors are Joubert’s characterization, not a translator’s etymological claim. A parallel in Golefer’s 1632 Bacon translation, book I, p. 7, speaks of the most learned men being heresiarchs within an objection Bacon goes on to refute. It does not give Joubert’s exact universal formulation, which remains as printed.

T157.This is Beaunier’s annotation, separate from Joubert’s text. Its Monday, November 10, 1806, dates the described notebook; November 8 belongs to the separate wording the great Bacon. Both dates and the approval of the extracts remain, without dating neighboring undated entries by inference.

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.