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 1808 · Entry 5570

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

Facing Pages · Branch 1789 of 4529

YEAR 1808 · Entry 5570

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 3577

Si beaucoup d’air (ou un grand volume d’air) est nécessaire à la musique.

Pour bien juger d’un édifice, il faut être placé à une distance égale à sa hauteur (s’il est plus haut que large), et à une distance égale à sa largeur s’il est plus large que long [haut]. C’est là que sont placés les points ou les sommets où aboutissent les beaux angles et les angles vrais.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1808

p. 3578

If much air (or a great volume of air) is necessary to music.

To judge a building well, one must be placed at a distance equal to its height (if it is taller than it is wide), and at a distance equal to its width if it is wider than it is long [tall]. There lie the points or vertices where the beautiful angles and the true angles meet.

T88.The conditional If clause ends with a period and no supplied consequence. The parenthetical reformulation concerns volume of air; no particular room or acoustic theory is added.

T496.Two physical paragraphs remain without an intervening separator. The Si clause ends with a period and has no expressed consequent. The source-supplied [haut] remains after long; only the first s’il clause is parenthesized. The right-edge la, égale, sa, les and angles are partly clipped and restored from the surviving beginnings and immediate continuations.

T89.The source’s long [haut] becomes long [tall], preserving the printed word and the source editor’s replacement together. Only the first conditional clause is parenthesized. Vertices renders the geometric sommets; beautiful angles and true angles remain two phrases.

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.