Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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French Page · Branch 2768 of 4529
YEAR 1813 · Entry 6549
French
p. 5535Il faut pour le succès d’un poème épique, que la moitié des idées et de la fable du poëte soit dans la tête des lecteurs. Il faut enfin qu’il ait affaire à un public curieux d’apprendre ce que lui même est désireux de raconter. C’est ainsi que l’auteur et les lecteurs ont à la fois la tête épique : conjonction ou conjoncture qui est réellement indispensable.
Nota. Qu’il faut que la moitié d’un poème épique soit dans la tête du poëte et que l’autre moitié soit dans la tête des lecteurs.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1813
p. 5536For an epic poem to succeed, half the poet’s ideas and fable must be in the readers’ heads. The poet must, finally, be dealing with a public curious to learn what he himself is eager to relate. It is thus that author and readers at the same time have an epic head: a conjunction or conjuncture that is truly indispensable.
Note. That half an epic poem must be in the poet’s head and the other half in the readers’ heads.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1813 · Entry 6549
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.