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 1815 · Entry 7304

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French Page · Branch 3523 of 4529

YEAR 1815 · Entry 7304

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7045

28 février.

Nota ces mots de St François de Sales : « qui sépare l’âme du corps, et quelquefois l’esprit de l’âme. (tome 1ᵉʳ, 2ᵉ partie, chap. 34, page 310). — Des doctrines et des méthodes qui « séparent l’esprit de l’âme ». L’habitude du raisonnement abstrait a ce terrible inconvénient. — Craindre et éviter dans toutes les opérations littéraires « ce qui sépare l’esprit de l’âme ».

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1815

p. 7046

February 28.

Note these words of St. Francis de Sales: “which separates the soul from the body, and sometimes the spirit from the soul. (volume 1, Part 2, chap. 34, page 310). — Doctrines and methods that “separate the spirit from the soul.” The habit of abstract reasoning has this terrible disadvantage. — To fear and avoid in every literary operation “what separates the spirit from the soul.”

T120.Note remains an instruction inside the author’s paragraph, corresponding to italic Nota. The visible first quotation opens without a supplied closing mark; the two later shorter quotations retain their own bounds. Sometimes, the repeated spirit/soul separation, terrible and the final infinitives remain. Spirit distinguishes esprit from âme in this formulation without assigning a new theological system. The volume/part/chapter/page reference stays in the body; no exact external text is authenticated. Here the source uses Arabic 1 with raised er and Arabic 2 with raised e; English keeps the Arabic numeral values and omits their ordinal suffixes. Note alone is italic. The later two English quoted passages place their periods inside the closing marks; no closure is added to the first quotation.

T493.The complete date 28 is retained. Nota alone is italic; the following prose and all three quoted passages remain roman. St is baseline. This reference uses Arabic 1 with raised er and Arabic 2 with raised e, distinct from the Roman numerals in the previous unit. The first opening guillemet has no visible closing counterpart after âme or around the intervening bibliographical parenthesis. Its printed period, parenthesis and following dash remain without an invented quotation closure. In the French source, the later two quotations close explicitly, before their terminal periods. The singular/plural sépare/séparent forms, quelquefois, both subjects and final paired infinitives remain. The inconvé-/nient wrap is complete.

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.