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 1821 · Entry 8143

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Facing Pages · Branch 4362 of 4529

YEAR 1821 · Entry 8143

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8723

Du sens caché, dans les mots dont on fait usage. Sens qui est souvent très étendu, très important, mais d’une étenduë et d’une importance qu’on sent et qu’on n’apperçoit pas. C’est comme une lueur dans un brouillard, ou comme un feu dans une eau thermale, feu dont on n’a la conviction que par la chaleur. C’est la lampe d’un ver luisant, lampe qui éclaire un point unique, mais qui l’éclaire sûrement.

Et la lampe du ver luisant — je dis très bien, car cette lampe l’éclaire et il ne la voit pas. Elle est en lui, mais loin des yeux.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1821

p. 8724

Of the hidden meaning in the words one uses. Meaning that is often very extensive, very important, but with an extent and importance one feels and does not perceive. It is like a gleam in a fog, or like a fire in thermal water, a fire of whose existence one is convinced only by its heat. It is the lamp of a glowworm, a lamp that lights a single point, but lights it surely.

And the glowworm’s lamp — I say quite rightly, for this lamp lights it and it does not see the lamp. It is within it, but far from its eyes.

T36.The opening fragments, often, both very terms and feeling/perception distinction remain. Both comparisons, repeated fire/lamp/light, only and single preserve the series of images. Of whose existence makes explicit the fire as the object of conviction without altering the heat-only evidence. English omits the source comma after caché as ordinary syntactic punctuation. Literal étenduë retains its qualified paired upper marks, and n’apperçoit retains pp. The two paragraphs and the unusual fire-in-thermal-water image are not rationalized into an added explanation.

T122.Two separate paragraphs remain. Literal étenduë has two e components visible in color/native 437; n’apperçoit has pp. The source comma after caché, repeated very, felt/not-perceived contrast, two similes and restrictive heat remain. The emphatic first-person assurance, dash, causal car and feminine-lamp/masculine-insect pronouns remain. The sûre-/ment wrap is complete, retaining its compressed circumflex. No subject or object is substituted in the French.

T37.The separate paragraph, initial And, first-person assurance and for remain. Lamp is repeated once in English to distinguish the feminine object la from the insect subject il; the inward yet far-from-eyes relation is preserved.

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.