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 1814 · Entry 6863

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Facing Pages · Branch 3082 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 6863

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6163

Le défaut de critique littéraire venoit en eux du défaut de […]éfiance. La bonne foy prolongea cette espèce d’ignorance et, si une […]ertu vaux mieux qu’un scavoir, le genre humain de ces temps à […]emi barbares valoit mieux à cet égard que le genre humain d’au[…]ourd’hui.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6164

Their lack of literary criticism came from their lack of [mistrust]. Good faith prolonged this kind of ignorance and, if a [virtue] is worth more than a piece of knowledge, the human race of those [half]-barbarous times was better in this respect than the human race of [today].

T4.Both lacks, the conditional comparison and its limited in-this-respect conclusion remain. Their refers to unnamed people. A piece of knowledge renders indefinite un scavoir. The literal vaux remains in French; ordinary English is worth expresses the intended third-person relation without claiming a corrected French form. [Mistrust], [virtue], [half] and [today] interpret […]éfiance, […]ertu, […]emi and au[…]ourd’hui contextually. Défiance or méfiance would both support mistrust; neither missing initial is certified. Each complete English counterpart is bracketed more broadly than its French letter loss, with barbarous outside the half bracket.

T328.The clipped line openings retain éfiance, ertu, emi and ourd’hui after the au wrap; no complete missing d/v/d/j is certified from their residual strokes. Foy and scavoir are literal. Native vaux visibly ends in x, not t, despite the grammatical anomaly after une […]ertu; no correction to vaut is imposed. The imperfect venoit/valoit and past prolongea remain distinct.

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.