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 7010

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Facing Pages · Branch 3229 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7010

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6457

Il faut qu’il n’y ait en rien une liberté sans mesure, dans un état bien gouverné; même dans les habits, dans le vivre, etc. (Nota. Yvrognes.) Une liberté sans mesure en quoi que ce soit, est un mal sans mesure. L’ordre est dans les dimensions, la dimension dans les limites.

La liberté doit être comme dans une urne, et l’urne dans les mains du prince, pour la déverser à propos. (L’irrigation...)

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6458

There must be no freedom without measure in anything in a well-governed state: even in dress, in eating and drinking, etc. (Note. Drunkards.) Freedom without measure in anything whatever is an evil without measure. Order is in dimensions, dimension in limits.

Liberty must be as if in an urn, and the urn in the prince’s hands, to pour it out when fitting. (Irrigation...)

T175.All three without-measure formulations, the broad scope and dimensions/dimension/limits sequence remain. The Académie dictionary of 1798 defines the noun vivre as nourishment and pairs it with clothing in an example; the drunkards parenthesis supports the drinking application here. Eating and drinking retains this contextual interpretation; the wider manner-of-living sense remains possible. Only Note. represents the italic Latin Nota.; the parenthesis remains main text. English uses a colon before even where French has a semicolon; the full qualification remains. The named Latin Nota. alone and its English Note., including periods, are italic, while Drunkards. remains roman.

T482.Both indented paragraphs remain one unit. Only Nota. is italic inside its roman parentheses; Yvrognes keeps capital Y and the final period. The first negative, en rien, repeated sans mesure and the three degrees of dimensions/dimension/limits remain without reconciling their numbers. The line-initial m of mesure, l of limites and d of du prince are abraded but have identifiable letter structures despite adjacent thin margin artifacts; no extra words are inferred. The second paragraph keeps both urne forms and the infinitival purpose. The final parenthetic irrigation fragment retains its printed ellipsis, with no extra closing sentence or explanation supplied.

T176.The urn is repeated, with the prince’s hands and pouring image intact. Liberty is the feminine object poured out; the infinitive’s understood agent is contextually the prince. The irrigation parenthesis and printed ellipsis remain without a supplied conclusion.

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.