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 7003

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Facing Pages · Branch 3222 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7003

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6443

Si l’âme sort de la région des idées et ne juge et ne voit que par […] monde corporel... Erreur, égarement, déplacement. Le monde cor[…]rel au corps, le monde intelligible à l’âme. C’est de là qu’elle doit […]ut sentir, tout voir, tout considérer, tout juger. Si les sensations sont […] règle des jugemens, un coup de vent, un nuage, une vapeur chan[…]nt la règle.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6444

If the soul leaves the region of ideas and judges and sees only through [the] corporeal world... Error, going astray, displacement. The [corporeal] world to the body, the intelligible world to the soul. It is from there that it must feel [everything], see everything, consider everything, judge everything. If sensations are [the] rule of judgments, a gust of wind, a cloud, a vapor [change] the rule.

T168.The uncompleted initial condition, three nominal consequences and two world/faculty relations remain. The repeated everything and rule are retained. The feminine pronoun refers to the soul; from there contextually refers to its intelligible region. The first [the] provisionally interprets le at a suspected slot whose presence and extent are uncertain. [Corporeal], [everything], the later [the] and [change] contextually render corporel, tout, la and changent from cor[…]rel, […]ut, a whole lost article and chan[…]nt. Full English words are bracketed without restored French letters. The other three everything occurrences and the final intact the remain outside brackets.

T475.The initial Si clause remains suspended before the printed ellipsis. Both repeated ne forms and the restricted judgment/vision relation remain. Before monde, the displaced word and preceding vertical remnants support a suspected missing slot whose presence and extent remain uncertain; no le is recovered. At the wrapped corporel, the next-line o retains only its right-side contour and the preceding p is not complete, so only cor and rel are certified. The later damaged opening retains ut, not an inferred tout. A loss precedes règle without supplying la. At the final wrap, chan has a visible n arch, while the following e is incomplete and no g is certified; chan[…]nt preserves only the established limits. The three nominal errors, two world/body-soul phrases, remaining three tout repetitions and three weather subjects are unchanged. The independent full-page and nine native-crop comparison agrees with the recorded 785 margin losses, dates, upper marks and lower identifiable openings. All stated qualifications remain; no completion beyond the bounded native evidence is certified.

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.