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 1807 · Entry 5213

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French Page · Branch 1432 of 4529

YEAR 1807 · Entry 5213

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 2863

— et retirer des passions le seul bon effet qu’elles puissent produire, — d’amollir l’âme pour quelque chose de meilleur. Ains[…] l’amour amollit pour la piété. L’ambition même... (voyez les mémoires de Montrésor.)

L’étude, en préparant aux contemplations éternelles...

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1807

p. 2864

— and to draw from the passions the only good effect they can produce, — to soften the soul for something better. [Thus] love softens it for piety. Ambition itself... (see the memoirs of Montrésor.)

Study, in preparing for eternal contemplations...

T12.The two dashes, initial infinitive, only restriction, can and something better remain. [Thus] contextually reads damaged Ains[…] without restoring its ending in French. English it repeats the previously named soul, the implicit object of the second softening. The ambition fragment and printed ellipsis remain unfinished. The roman reference retains the qualified Montrésor reading; no work or internal destination is identified.

T25.The initial and internal substantial dashes remain with the infinitival fragment, restrictive seul, subjunctive puissent and ordinary pro-/duire wrap. The final letter after Ains is not certified at the blurred right edge; no i is restored. The later nominal ambition fragment has a printed ellipsis, distinct from that current loss. The parenthetic reference is roman. Mémoires spans an intact ordinary line wrap; Montrésor and the terminal period before its close are provisional literal readings at the qualified level, not a work or person identification. The separate L’étude paragraph has no finite main predicate and ends in its own printed ellipsis. Its final accents are qualified. No source call or footnote is invented.

T13.The separate subject and participial phrase remain without a finite main predicate. The plural contemplations and printed ellipsis are retained; neither a missing object nor a conclusion 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.