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 7894

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Facing Pages · Branch 4113 of 4529

YEAR 1818 · Entry 7894

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8225

12 octobre.

Avoir beaucoup de judiciaire n’est pas avoir beaucoup de jugement; et avoir beaucoup d’aptitude aux combinaisons, quelles qu’elles soient, n’est pas avoir beaucoup d’imagination. L’imagination est essentiellement colorante. Son action et son opération sont spontanées, instantanées, involontaires, toujours droites quoique non pas toujours complettes.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1818

p. 8226

October 12.

To have much judicative capacity is not to have much judgment; and to have much aptitude for combinations, whatever they may be, is not to have much imagination. Imagination is essentially coloring. Its action and its operation are spontaneous, instantaneous, involuntary, always straight, though not always complete.

T131.The 1798 Académie defines the feminine substantive judiciaire as the faculty of judging and marks it familiar; jugement also includes the faculty of judging things. The distinct English labels preserve Joubert’s local opposition, not a fixed technical distinction certified by the dictionary. Both repeated much relations, whatever concession and action/operation pair remain. Coloring follows American spelling; straight preserves droites without silently deciding between correctness and directness. Both always terms and final incompleteness remain. The literal French complettes retains its double t; ordinary English complete carries no corresponding spelling anomaly.

T369.The complete 12 octobre, four beaucoup forms, two negatives, whatever concession, two possessives and two toujours forms remain. Judiciaire is literal and not replaced by jugement; complettes has tt. The essentielle-/ment and ins-/tantanées wraps are complete. The source specialist’s facsimile collation records the 878 nuï anomaly, ?. call boundary, paired vuë marks, first paragraph’s first two scais forms versus its third sais, and the second paragraph’s scais, all five italic scopes and complete dates, with all stated individual reading qualifications retained.

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.