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 8148

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Facing Pages · Branch 4367 of 4529

YEAR 1821 · Entry 8148

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8733

Le diamant, le marbre, le fer. Un peu de sable, un peu de lie (o[…] de vase qui est une lie ou un dépôt de l’eau) et un peu de cendr[…] impalpable, dont les grains sont coagulés, aglomérés, collés ensembl[…] par un peu de gomme ou de glu, dont la nature est inconnue.

Tout est peu et rien n’est beaucoup quand on regarde toutes chose[…] ou de haut ou de très près.

Buffon, homme [d’un esprit] qu’on a cru grand, attribuoit en secre[…] une toute puissance à cette ombre, à ce phénomène, à ce phantôme, ce presque rien ou presque néant que nous appellons la matière, l[…] grand tout.

— Et à ce propos, la force des monosyllabes. Toute l’énergie […] toute[s] les concisions de notre langue est dans l’habile emploi d[…] mots de trois ou quatre lettres et de une, deux ou trois syllabes : tou[…] rien, peu, beaucoup.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1821

p. 8734

Diamond, marble, iron. A little sand, a little sediment ([or] mud, which is a sediment or deposit of water), and a little impalpable [ash] whose grains are coagulated, agglomerated, glued [together] by a little gum or glue of unknown nature.

Everything is little and nothing is much when one looks at all [things] either from on high or from very close.

Buffon, a man [of a mind] thought great, [secretly] attributed an omnipotence to this shadow, this phenomenon, this phantom, this almost nothing or almost naught that we call matter, [the] great whole.

— And on this subject, the force of monosyllables. All the energy [and] [all] the concisions of our language lie in the skillful use [of] words of three or four letters and of one, two or three syllables: [everything], nothing, little, much.

T46.The three materials, four little terms, full explanatory parenthesis and three forms of joining remain. Impalpable and unknown preserve limits of perception/knowledge. The description remains the source’s, not a modern chemical account. [Or], [ash] and [together] are contextual whole-word readings of o[…], cendr[…] and ensembl[…], without certifying their missing letters. French aglomérés retains its literal spelling. English supplies the comma after the closing parenthesis and omits the source comma after impalpable as part of its reordered noun phrase.

T127.The clipped right ends retain o, cendr, ensembl, chose, secre, l, d and tou only. The small left-curved remnant after énergie does not certify a complete e or a whole conjunction, so that slot is wholly unresolved. The possible punctuation after tou is also lost; no comma is silently inserted into the French. Printed [d’un esprit] and suffix toute[s] are roman editorial supplements, distinct from the present reproduction gaps. Literal aglomérés has one g after the initial a; phantôme, appellons and singular est remain. No missing à is invented before the intact ce presque rien. The complete parenthesis, four un peu phrases, two numerical series and final examples remain.

T47.Everything/nothing/all and either/or remain, along with the two scales of looking. The apparent paradox is not explained away. [Things] contextually renders chose[…]; the broad English brackets cover the whole plural noun although the visible French stem remains intact and only its ending is lost.

T48.[Of a mind] corresponds to printed editorial [d’un esprit]. The indefinite omnipotence, repeated this, shadow/phenomenon/phantom progression and two almost terms remain. The assessment of Buffon is not externally certified. [Secretly] broadly renders intact en together with damaged secre[…]; it is not a claim that the whole French expression is lost. [The] before great whole interprets l[…] contextually. These loss brackets remain distinct from the printed editor supplement [of a mind]. French phantôme and appellons remain literal. The unprepositioned ce presque rien is retained in French rather than supplied with an invented à.

T49.The initial dash/And, nominal opening, both numerical series and final examples remain. [All] broadly represents printed toute[s], whose bracket supplies only a French agreement suffix; English has no separate suffix counterpart. The examples are translated for meaning, so their English lengths do not reproduce the French count; no claim of exact English syllable matching is made. The source’s tension between monosyllables and later three syllables is retained. [And] is a contextual reading of the wholly unresolved slot after énergie; no surviving conjunction is certified. [Of] renders damaged d[…] before mots, and [everything] contextually renders tou[…]. The comma after [everything] is English punctuation supplied where the damaged edge does not establish the source mark. English plural lie adapts the source singular est. The reproduction-loss brackets and printed editorial [all] remain distinct in origin.

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.