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.

Explore the Lexicon

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1807 · Entry 5209

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 1428 of 4529

YEAR 1807 · Entry 5209

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 2855

7 avril.

L’homme raisonnable veut la solidité, l’homme d’esprit l’apparence et l’homme de goût la saveur. La matière suffit à l’un, la forme à l’autre; il faut au dernier les délices et la salubrité, c’est à dire l’agrément et l’utilité.

La voracité suspend les fonctions du goût.

La vérité! C’est une vérité qu’il y a des illusions utiles.

Il y a solidité et vérité (quant à l’effet) partout où il y a utilité.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1807

p. 2856

April 7.

The reasonable man wants solidity, the man of wit appearance, and the man of taste flavor. Matter suffices for the one, form for the other; the last needs delights and wholesomeness, that is, pleasure and usefulness.

Voracity suspends the functions of taste.

Truth! It is a truth that there are useful illusions.

There is solidity and truth (as to effect) wherever there is usefulness.

T207.The three kinds of person and the subsequent matter, form, and delights with wholesomeness remain in source order. Wit preserves esprit in this contrast. The closing paragraph’s voracity suspends taste in both its bodily and evaluative resonance.

T1.The exclamation and following finite sentence remain separate. The repeated truth and paradox of useful illusions are not explained away or made an assertion that all illusions are useful.

T20.The first of two separately indented opening paragraphs has an exclamation after vérité, followed by a separate finite sentence. Horizontal doubling affects small contours and punctuation, but the displayed letter sequence and final period remain identifiable at a qualified level. No new source separator or date is introduced.

T30.The clearer color reproduction permits a qualified reading of page 608. Its first two paragraphs continue the April 7 unit begun on page 607; eight later units have no printed dates. The final unit continues into the two paragraphs at the top of page 609. These paragraphs now appear once, under their established owner. Local losses remain marked, and the destination of see above remains unresolved. The earlier gap notice, fragment translations and notes are preserved as historical records. In the retained note on page 607, closing paragraph refers to the two-paragraph form available before this recovery; the unit now has four paragraphs.

T2.The solidity/truth pair, parenthetic limitation and wherever relation remain. The statement does not assert unrestricted metaphysical truth; the effect qualification keeps its source position.

T21.The second separately indented sentence ends before the first visible centered star. The parenthetic effect qualification and final period remain. Accent contours, including où, are compressed by the horizontal blur and retained as qualified readings; no lost clause is supplied.

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.