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 1819 · Entry 7982

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French Page · Branch 4201 of 4529

YEAR 1819 · Entry 7982

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8401

ANNÉE 1819

Janvier.

Des droits et des devoirs. Droits de l’Eglise, droits des provinces.

Les droits sont des puissances subordonnées (elles en ont besoin pour leur conservation). Les devoirs appartiennent aux inférieurs et sont indispensables pour le maintien des droits et la conservation du tout. La puissance suprême a le pouvoir, c’est à dire plus que des droits, car elle a la force honorée.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1819

p. 8402

YEAR 1819

January.

Of rights and duties. Rights of the Church, rights of the provinces.

Rights are subordinate powers (they need this for their preservation). Duties belong to inferiors and are indispensable to maintaining rights and preserving the whole. The supreme power has authority, that is to say, more than rights, for it has honored force.

S1.Source editor’s annotationGreen pocket notebook: “January 2, 1819. Mrs. de Vintimille, rue d’Anjou, no. 42.” And, from 1819, but without a precise date, a list of books, then: Air. Between indoor and outdoor air, only ten degrees of difference, to avoid colds. (Meded. dom. vol. I, p. 253.) Speak to Mr. Guéneau about Messrs. Maisonneuve, Gremeret, Mr. d’Eymar, Mr. Gratepain.”

T1.The three nominal formulations and repeated rights remain. The year heading and month-only January date stay separate; the apparatus’s January 2 does not become the main entry date. French Eglise begins with plain capital E. The raised 1 after Janvier is the annotation call before the baseline period, not a day numeral.

T13.The source-editor framing, first closed quotation, separate date precision, address, book list and practical notes remain one apparatus paragraph. There is no source opening guillemet before Air., although a closing mark follows Gratepain; English retains that later unmatched close without supplying an opening. The month-only main entry does not acquire January 2. Printed baseline Mme and Mrs are conventionally rendered Mrs. and Messrs.; baseline M. becomes Mr., and nᵒ with raised o becomes no. Meded. dom. remains an unexpanded abbreviated title; printed tom I, with no period after tom and Roman I, becomes conventional English vol. I. The source names Vintimille, Guéneau, Maisonneuve, Gremeret, d’Eymar and Gratepain remain without identification. English moves seulement to only before ten degrees and omits the comma immediately before seulement; the comma before pour remains before to avoid colds. English also supplies a comma after precise date. No temperature scale, medical endorsement or unseen book expansion is supplied.

T114.The printed ANNÉE 1819 heading is separate after the rule. Janvier. gives a month only; its raised 1 is an apparatus call after the month and before the baseline period, not a day numeral. The first paragraph ends on 887; the second continues through the four complete opening lines of 888 without inserted punctuation or a paragraph break. Eglise retains a plain capital E and c’est à dire has no hyphens. The feminine elles refers grammatically to puissances; en remains context-dependent without a new French complement. Puissance/pouvoir/force remain distinct printed terms. Both main paragraphs are roman. The source specialist’s facsimile collation records the page 887 month/call, baseline titles and exact notebook abbreviations/names, unmatched later quotation close, and complete 888 continuation, with all stated individual reading qualifications retained.

T115.In the French source, one continuous roman apparatus paragraph. The explicit January 2 1819 date belongs to its notebook quotation and is not assigned to the month-only main entry. The first quotation closes after 42.; later Air. has no printed opening guillemet after puis:, although a closing guillemet follows Gratepain. The unmatched closing mark is retained without conjecturing an omitted opening. Mme and Mrs are baseline forms; nᵒ has a raised small o. The literal Vintimille, Guéneau, Maisonneuve, Gremeret, d’Eymar and Gratepain remain, along with Meded. dom. tom I, p. 253. The I has Roman numeral form. The two dots after Meded./dom. and absence of a dot after tom remain. Small glyph contours are qualified to the reproduction; no title, identity, book or temperature scale is expanded.

T2.The parenthesis, preservation, inferiors, indispensable and whole remain. This leaves en’s reference implicit rather than inserting an explanation of what the powers require. Authority contextually distinguishes pouvoir from the surrounding puissance and force; it does not add a legal institution. The paragraph continues across pages 887–888. The feminine elles grammatically refers to puissances; the English plural they preserves that connection without assigning en a new complement. French c’est à dire remains unhyphenated.

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.