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 8071

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Facing Pages · Branch 4290 of 4529

YEAR 1819 · Entry 8071

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8579

21 novembre.

Il est un instrument à vent, je suis un instrument à cordes. Il lui suffit de se souffler; moi j’ai besoin de me monter. Il faut mettre mes […]erfs d’accord, alors je rends une harmonie. Mais je suis semblable […] la harpe, je me détends et par conséquent je détonne facilement. Il […]aut me remonter souvent, ce qui exige beaucoup de temps.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1819

p. 8580

November 21.

He is a wind instrument, I am a stringed instrument. He need only blow into himself; I need to tune myself up. My [nerves] must be brought into tune; then I produce a harmony. But I am [like] the harp: I slacken, and consequently I easily sound out of tune. I [must] often be tuned up again, which takes much time.

T99.The unidentified he and first person, reflexive blowing, tuning, nerves, slackening and repeated tuning remain. The one source paragraph continues onto 897. English [nerves] contextually interprets […]erfs without recovering the lost initial n. Broad [like] renders intact semblable together with the suspected short-word slot before la: the presence and extent of that slot remain uncertain, and no French à is certified. The final [must] contextually interprets […]aut as faut; the earlier must renders intact Il faut and stays outside brackets. English recasts the impersonal tuning constructions without separate lexical counterparts for their grammatical Il. The semicolon before then and colon after harp replace source commas, and English supplies a comma before and consequently. No missing French letter is restored.

T205.The complete 21 governs one paragraph that continues across the page boundary. The full ending mes is intact on 896; no new paragraph or punctuation is inserted at the join. All reflexive pronouns and repeated tuning language remain. At 897 only erfs and aut are complete after the damaged initial contours. The isolated thin remnants do not certify complete n or f. Before la harpe, the displaced opening and damaged margin support only a suspected lost short word, with presence and extent uncertain; no à is recovered in French. Color and native 429 agree on these limits. The source specialist’s facsimile collation records the page 896 literal spellings, plain O/lowercase ô, poësies upper pair, comma-plus-dash, complete margins and 897 incoming residues, 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.