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 1816 · Entry 7697

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English Page · Branch 3916 of 4529

YEAR 1816 · Entry 7697

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 7831

Exaltation, élévation. L’exaltation se fait par des moyens extérieurs et n’est qu’un produit machinal. L’élévation est naturelle, et elle a lieu par l’effet des qualités qui nous sont propres.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1816

p. 7832

Exaltation, elevation. Exaltation comes about through external means and is only a mechanical product. Elevation is natural, and it takes place through the effect of qualities that are our own.

S1.Source editor’s annotationA separate leaf, dated only “15 7bre,” — and which I do not know exactly what year to assign to, but which, by analogy, seems indeed to belong to this period, — contains this: “Exaltation is that height of feelings or ideas which comes from external causes; that which arises from character is not called exaltation, but elevation. Declamation arises from exaltation. It differs from eloquence in that the one always sets forth great feelings or great ideas, and the other great words, great objects. The orator is occupied with his subject; the declaimer with his role. The one acts, the other feigns. The first is a person, the second a character.”

T173.Both related terms and their repeated contrast remain: external/mechanical versus natural/one’s own. Mechanical gives machinal its involuntary-produced force without naming machinery. The separate source call remains attached to the ending own before the period.

T182.The source editor’s first person, uncertain year and analogy remain separate apparatus. The date abbreviation 7bre is retained as printed rather than silently assigned a year or transferred to the main entry. The quoted one/other order is retained even where its relation to declamation/eloquence is unexpected; no transposition repairs the passage. Height, character, role, acts/feigns and person/character preserve the related but distinct comparisons. This whole annotation is one paragraph. The source’s et after the first dash remains and in English.

T333.The opening nominal pair and restrictive ne...que remain. The raised 1 follows propres before its separate baseline period, attaching the separate source apparatus to this undated unit. Neither adjacent main date is inherited.

T334.The entire apparatus is one roman editorial paragraph, with two quotations and the source editor’s first-person je. The date is literally 15 7bre, with bre on the baseline; no year is printed or assigned. The editor’s express uncertainty and analogy-based placement remain separate from the main text’s undated status. Both naît forms show peaked upper i marks in color, with compressed native 390 contours; the circumflex readings remain qualified. Sentiments has its printed t in both occurrences. The alternatives, singular vient, both l’une/l’autre comparisons and personne/personnage distinction remain. The final period precedes the closing guillemet; no speaker or antecedent is silently reassigned.

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.