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 7153

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Facing Pages · Branch 3372 of 4529

YEAR 1814 · Entry 7153

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 6743

3 décembre.

Cela est faible et beau. Faible parce qu’il l’a voulu ainsi, et beau parce que c’est lui qui l’a fait et qu’il y a mis son empreinte. Le succès, dit-on, en est complet. Cela est naturel. Et ceppendant on n’y peut trouver qu’un plaisir assés semblable au caractère de l’ouvrage, je veux dire un peu flottant et indécis. Il s’est prescrit une contrainte qu’il a trop gardée. Il me semble entendre la voix d’un homme qui est en colère et qui, pour se modérer, prend un ton plus doux; que sa voix parle plus bas que lui-même et qu’on ne peut le faire quand on est de sens froid. Et figurez-vous une Thémis, le bandeau sur le front, l’œil clairvoyant, qui tient sa balance nonchalamment et qui […] mis sous ses pieds le glaive de la vérité. Rien n’y est franc.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1814

p. 6744

December 3.

This is weak and beautiful. Weak because he wanted it so, and beautiful because it is he who made it and put his stamp on it. Its success, they say, is complete. That is natural. And yet one can find in it only a pleasure rather like the character of the work, I mean somewhat wavering and indecisive. He prescribed himself a constraint that he has observed too strictly. I seem to hear the voice of a man who is angry and who, to moderate himself, adopts a gentler tone; that his voice speaks more quietly than he himself, and that one cannot do this when one is coolheaded. And picture a Themis, the blindfold on her forehead, her eye clear-sighted, who holds her scales nonchalantly and who [has] laid the sword of truth beneath her feet. Nothing in it is frank.

T43.The repeated weak/beautiful contrast, qualified reported success, only, I mean and I seem remain. The stamp, self-imposed constraint and voice that speaks below its own speaker are preserved. The dependent that sequence remains in its source form, without being recast as independent propositions. The Themis image keeps the misplaced blindfold, seeing eye, careless scales and sword beneath her feet. Who holds and who [has] laid retain her as the acting subject; [has] contextually supplies the wholly lost auxiliary before intact mis, without restoring a in French. No mythological source or named book is identified. The paragraph continues onto 802 without a new division; it is he who preserves the emphasis in c’est lui qui.

T183.The complete 3 has identifiable upper/lower curves in color, though abrasion remains qualified. The single paragraph continues through the first two lines of 802 before the star; no new paragraph or date is inserted at the page break. Both faible/beau repetitions and their separate because clauses remain. The source’s dit-on reports the stated success; no outside attribution is inferred. Literal ceppendant with pp, assés with final s and sens froid remain, without normalization to cependant/assez/sang-froid. The dependent que after the semicolon, self-prescribed constraint and comparative lower voice retain their source syntax. At the left edge the beginnings of parce, the wrapped cès, peut, je, qu’il, est, sa and on are abraded but identifiable in color; no additional words or lost initials are certified there. The following cross-page œ ligature is retained. In the 802 continuation, the short word after et qui has only an incomplete vertical/curved remnant at the folded right edge; it is left wholly unknown rather than supplying a. The following intact mis is not expanded into a repaired finite construction. The final negative sentence remains. All wording is roman. Complete color 801/802 and original-size left/continuation bands have been read; independent bounded comparison agrees with the 801 loss/date targets and only this incoming 802 short-word slot. New 802 units remain a separate review scope.

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.