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 1818 · Entry 7877

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Facing Pages · Branch 4096 of 4529

YEAR 1818 · Entry 7877

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8191

La Bible. Qu’elle apprend le bien et le mal et tout le bien et tout le mal possibles. L’Evangile au contraire semble écrit pour les prédestinés. C’est le livre de l’innocence. Le premier est fait pour la terre, l’autre semble fait pour le ciel. Aussi celui-ci ne nous parle t’il que du ciel : regnum cœlorum; et l’autre de la terre : in terra viventium. Selon que l’un ou l’autre de ces livres sont plus [lus] dans une nation, on y voit diverses mœurs ou diverses humeurs religieuses.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1818

p. 8192

The Bible. That it teaches good and evil, and all possible good and all possible evil. The Gospel, on the contrary, seems written for the predestined. It is the book of innocence. The first is made for earth; the other seems made for heaven. Thus the latter speaks to us only of heaven: the kingdom of the heavens; and the other of earth: in the land of the living. According as one or the other of these books is more [read] in a nation, different morals or different religious dispositions are seen there.

S5.Source editor’s annotationFirst version: “[…] imaginable evil. The Gospel is for the perfect; it is the book of innocence. The first of these books […] of the living. Depending on which of the two books is more read in a nation, they nourish different religious morals there.

T96.The dependent That, repeated good and evil, seems qualifications and reversed latter/other references remain: latter here is Gospel, other is Bible. Both Latin phrases receive fresh English glosses, without borrowing a biblical translation; plural heavens follows the Latin genitive. The source editor’s supplied [lus] has the corresponding [read]. The semicolon between earth and other is English punctuation. This preserves Joubert’s distinction without imposing a modern definition of Bible. English uses singular agreement with one or the other where the source literally prints plural sont; the French grammatical anomaly is retained.

T104.Both printed omissions remain; imaginable differs from possible and the perfect from the predestined. The surviving Latin viventium receives the fresh gloss of the living; the lost phrase is not reconstructed. They follows the variant’s plural ils without silently assigning the nourishment to only one book. The quotation remains unclosed after the terminal period, as printed; no closing mark is supplied. English uses ordinary singular agreement for the source’s l’un ou l’autre livre sont.

T341.The undated paragraph retains dependent Qu’elle, repeated good/evil and tout, both semble predicates, the first/other and celui-ci relations, literal parle t’il spacing/apostrophe and restrictive ne…que. Plain capital E in Evangile is retained. All prédestinés/viventium wrap letters and right-edge words are complete. In the French source, only regnum cœlorum; and in terra viventium. are italic, including their adjacent semicolon and period. The intervening et and prose are roman. Cœlorum retains its visible ligature. The brackets in [lus] are printed source-editor supply, not a reproduction loss. The French plural sont after l’un ou l’autre is literal and not grammatically repaired. Raised 5 follows religieuses before the period.

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.