Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.
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Facing Pages · Branch 432 of 4529
YEAR 1805 · Entry 4213
French
p. 863Au musœum. — Rouge idéal, bleu idéal, etc.
Quand l’idéal est dans l’expression, l’exact doit être dans les accessoires. Au contraire, si l’expression n’est qu’exacte (ou commune) il faut placer l’idéal dans les couleurs. Qu’on s’arrange comme on voudra, il faut que, dans tout ouvrage de l’art, l’idéal soit quelque part, en bas, en haut, au centre ou dans un coin. L’idéal est dans l’art le naturel. Car la nature que l’art voit est l’idéale.
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805
p. 864At the museum. — Ideal red, ideal blue, etc.
When the ideal is in the expression, the exact must be in the accessories. On the contrary, if the expression is only exact (or common), the ideal must be placed in the colors. Arrange things as one will, in every work of art the ideal must be somewhere, below, above, at the center or in a corner. In art, the ideal is the natural. For the nature art sees is the ideal one.
Socrates
Reading The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II · YEAR 1805 · Entry 4213
Ask about a concept, passage, contradiction, or connection.
Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.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.