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 1817 · Entry 7787

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Facing Pages · Branch 4006 of 4529

YEAR 1817 · Entry 7787

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8011

31 octobre.

Les Necker et leur école.

I. C’est là (si on ose ainsi parler) montrer une pensée par ce qu’elle peut avoir de plus intérieur et avec tous ses intestins.

II. Jusqu’à eux on avoit dit quelquefois la vérité en riant. Ceux-ci la disent toujours en pleurant ou du moins en soupirant, en gémissant (mais avec des demi-soupirs ou des demi-gémissemens). A les entendre, toutes les vérités sont tristes ou mélancoliques. Aussi, M. de Pange m’écrivoit-il « triste comme la vérité ». Aucune lumière ne les réjouit, aucune beauté ne les épanouit, tout les concentre. Leur poëtique est héraclitienne. On ne peut bien les lire qu’avec un accent apprêté et ému et, pour ainsi dire, au son des flûtes.

(Quotidienne, 13 juillet 1817, Ruche d’Aquitaine (baronne de S...) : « C’étoit une poësie de regards, d’accens et de gestes... » Pas si mal dit pour une folle.)

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1817

p. 8012

October 31.

The Neckers and their school.

I. That is (if one dares speak so) to show a thought through what can be most inward in it, and with all its intestines.

II. Before them, truth had sometimes been told with laughter. They always tell it with tears, or at least with sighs, with groans (but with half-sighs or half-groans). To hear them, all truths are sad or melancholy. Thus Mr. de Pange wrote to me “sad as truth.” No light gladdens them, no beauty makes them bloom; everything draws them inward. Their poetics is Heraclitean. They can be read well only with an affected, emotional accent and, so to speak, to the sound of flutes.

(Quotidienne, July 13, 1817, Ruche d’Aquitaine (Baroness de S...): “It was a poetry of looks, accents and gestures...” Not so badly said for a madwoman.)

T94.The plural name and school remain a separate opening paragraph; no family members are supplied.

T206.The complete 31 governs four physical paragraphs: the opening designation, I, II and the separate bibliographical parenthesis. The internal 13 July 1817 issue date is not a new main date. Both demi- compounds, literal gémissemens/accens/héraclitienne, plain A, paired e marks in poëtique/poësie and flûtes circumflex remain. In the French source, the first quote’s period is outside; the later quoted three dots remain inside. S... is an opaque printed initial and ellipsis, not a current reproduction gap. Only Quotidienne is italic together with its adjoining comma; the surrounding parenthesis, date, Ruche d’Aquitaine and remaining quotation/prose are roman. The intimate relation between the title and comma remains a qualified reading of the available reproduction.

T95.The Roman number, daring parenthesis, superlative inwardness and deliberately visceral intestines remain. The image is not smoothed to inner workings. Can retains the potential force of peut avoir, rather than presenting the inwardness as an unqualified fact.

T96.The past/present contrast, sometimes/always, at-least qualification, half measures and all/none/only restrictions remain. Bloom and inward movement retain the physical images of épanouit and concentre. English uses a semicolon before everything and moves the quotation’s period inside. Heraclitean stays an unexplained source characterization, without a newly asserted allusion or doctrine. To me retains the explicit first-person recipient in m’écrivoit; no separately located letter is claimed.

T97.The whole bibliographic parenthesis remains its own main paragraph. Quotidienne and its adjoining comma form the italic span; both named publications are retained without invented links. The incomplete name and quoted ellipsis remain, as does Joubert’s disparaging final phrase, which is not an editorial diagnosis. The July date belongs to the citation.

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.