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 1823 · Entry 8208

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Facing Pages · Branch 4427 of 4529

YEAR 1823 · Entry 8208

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8853

Une partie essentielle de la civilité de ce temps là étoit de ne jamais se séparer sans s’être réjouis ensemble. — Et cette joye qui est si liante, qui établit une sympathie entre ceux qui n’en ont pas d’autre et qui par cela même est un élément de concorde dans l’humaine société.

Ces boissons aqueuses concentrent. Celle du vin rend expansif. L’abbé Delile disoit fort bien : « On n’est jamais seul avec du caffé. »

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1823

p. 8854

An essential part of the civility of that time was never to part without having rejoiced together. — And this joy that binds so closely, that establishes a sympathy among those who have no other, and that by this very fact is an element of concord in human society.

These watery drinks concentrate. The drinking of wine makes expansive. The abbé Delile said very well: “One is never alone with coffee.”

T43.Essential, never-without, together, the three dependent that clauses, no-other and by-this-very-fact remain. The second nominal/dependent construction is not supplied with a main predicate. Binds so closely renders si liante and retains the social binding image.

T121.Two separately indented paragraphs remain in one undated unit. Literal ce temps là, joye, and the non-main-predicate Et cette joye... construction remain. All three relative clauses, never/without relation and together remain roman. The coffee attribution visibly prints Delile (D-e-l-i-l-e), confirmed by a tight original-size color and native 445 comparison. Caffé has double f. No extra l is supplied from a conventional name spelling. The final coffee quotation period is inside its closing guillemet. The objectless concentrent and adjectival expansif remain literal.

T44.The contrast of concentration and expansiveness remains in its compact, objectless form. The drinking of wine contextually supplies boisson from Celle du vin without changing the liquid into a person. Delile follows the literal witness spelling, with one l before and one after i; French caffé retains double f. The quoted coffee claim and very-well attribution remain unverified; its period is already inside the source closing mark. Said preserves the citation’s past attribution without adding a habitual emphasis.

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.