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 IIAccording to Plato · Entry 6630

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English Page · Branch 2849 of 4529

According to Plato · Entry 6630

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 5697

1ᵉʳ juillet.

Le ton et le goût. Leurs différences et — Du purisme : en quoi consiste sa faiblesse et son excès. Ce qui choque le goût doit toujours être exclu, mais non toujours ce qui n’est pas conforme au ton : le ton n’est qu’une mode, mais le goût tient à la nature.

Rejetter une expression qui ne blesse ni le son, ni le sens, ni le bon goût ni la clarté est un purisme ridicule, une pusillanimité.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: According to Plato

p. 5698

July 1.

Tone and taste. Their differences and — Of purism: in what its weakness and its excess consist. What offends taste must always be excluded, but not always what does not conform to the tone: tone is only a fashion, but taste belongs to nature.

To reject an expression that offends neither sound, nor sense, nor good taste nor clarity is a ridiculous purism, a pusillanimity.

S1.Source editor’s annotationNotebook.

T127.The unfinished initial connection, always/not always distinction and fashion/nature contrast remain. Purism retains the literary term; the transition back to the main notebook is marked by the source editor’s separate note on the July 1 date, not in the main text.

T164.Beaunier’s separate apparatus explains the notebook resumption; it is not a new entry.

T529.Both paragraphs remain separate. The detached Leurs différences et followed by a dash and capital Du, the two colons, repeated goût/ton and explicit mais non toujours remain. The printed Rejetter has two t. The source call follows juillet before the date period, marking the return to the notebook outside the Greek heading.

T530.The roman one-word apparatus paragraph reads Carnet. Its printed call is on the July 1 date after juillet and before the baseline period, not inside either main paragraph.

T128.All four exclusions and the double verdict remain in a separate paragraph; neither timidity nor the literary judgment is softened.

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.