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 1810 · Entry 6084

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English Page · Branch 2303 of 4529

YEAR 1810 · Entry 6084

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 4605

[…] mai.

Bacon porta son imagination dans la physique, comme Platon avoit […]orté la sienne dans la métaphysique; aussi hardi et aussi hazardeux […] établir des conjectures en invoquant l’expérience que Platon étoit […]agnifique à étaler des vraisemblances. Platon au moins donne ses […]ées pour des idées; mais Bacon donne les siennes ou du moins les […]it recevoir comme des faits. Aussi trompe-t-il en physique plus que […]autre en métaphysique; voyez son histoire de la vie et de la mort. […]ous deux au reste étoient de grands et beaux esprits; tous deux ont […]it un grand chemin dans les espaces littéraires, Bacon d’un pied […]ger et fermé, Platon avec de grandes ailes.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1810

p. 4606

May […].

Bacon carried his imagination into physics, as Plato had […]orté his into metaphysics; as bold and as venturesome […] establish conjectures by invoking experience as Plato was […]agnifique in displaying verisimilitudes. Plato at least gives his […]ées as ideas; but Bacon gives his, or at least […]it receive them, as facts. Thus he deceives in physics more than […]autre in metaphysics; see his history of life and death. […]ous two, for the rest, were great and beautiful minds; both have […]it a long way through literary spaces, Bacon with a […]ger and closed foot, Plato with great wings.

T64.Physics retains physique and experience retains expérience without narrowing it to a particular experiment. The intact verbs and contrasts remain, while broken words retain their French residues: possible completions include porté, magnifique, idées, fait, l’autre, Tous, fait, and léger. No missing preposition is supplied. Closed follows the qualified printed fermé; firm would require reading ferme and is not silently substituted. The history of life and death remains a lower-case description rather than an independently certified edition title.

T152.The May day is lost. The numerous left-edge losses remain explicit: orté, agnifique, ées, it, autre, ous, the later it, and ger do not certify their missing initials. The isolated missing word before établir is not supplied. Some opening strokes in retained residues are abraded. Hazardeux retains z. The final e of fermé has a small raised acute-like trace in the enlarged facsimile; fermé is a qualified literal reading, without silently substituting ferme from the context. The lower-case roman histoire de la vie et de la mort remains in the sentence without a supplied formal title.

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.