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 IIUNDATED · Entry 8257

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French Page · Branch 4476 of 4529

UNDATED · Entry 8257

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 8951

17 (Liasse 22.)

Histoire de l’Académie des Inscriptions. Paris, Pancouke. In 4. Tome 13^ᵉ.

= Des Cabires, par M. Fréret.

Nota. Parce que Hérodote et Platon nomment toujours Hésiode avant Homère quand ils font mention de ces deux poëtes, M. le comte de Caylus conclut très bien qu’Hésiode a précédé Homère de quelques années.

Addit. — Des tableaux de Polignote décrits par Pausanias. (Page 54, tome 13. M. le comte de Caylus.) Ce sont les deux tableaux qui excitèrent cette querelle de Falconnet le sculpteur et de M. Diderot, dont je me suis mêlé.

S1.Source editor’s annotationUn autre feuillet (non daté) contient des notes prises par Joubert en lisant le quatorzième volume de l’Histoire de l’Académie des Inscriptions et là notamment, « divers mémoires de M. le comte de Caylus ». Page 111 : « Figures égyptiennes, taillées... jambes — page 218. — Chercher un passage relatif (je crois) aux jambes de la sculpture archaïque, qui sont grossièrement taillés, mais qui marchent. Cela pourra servir à dater, avec ce feuillet-ci (qui n’a pas d’importance) les feuillets plus importants qui contiennent des extraits des tomes XIII et XV. Il y a, sur ce feuillet-ci, une petite notice sur M. de Burigny. « Nota. M. de Burigny a consacré ses travaux à rechercher particulièrement le caractère et la vie des auteurs autrefois célèbres et dont nous n’avons pas les ouvrages. Ennemi de l’oubli des grands noms, il met toute sa gloire à le détruire. Les ravages du temps n’ont point eu de plus constant réparateur. Sa longue vie a permis que lui-même fît revivre un grand nombre de réputations éteintes. Il nous a appris beaucoup de choses qui, dignes d’être scues, ne sont pas même étudiées dans les livres qu’on étudie et se trouvent ainsi hors de la commune curiosité. (Voyez plusieurs de ses recherches dans l’Histoire de l’Académie des Inscriptions.) »

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: UNDATED

p. 8952

17 (Bundle 22.)

History of the Académie des Inscriptions. Paris, Pancouke. In quarto. Volume 13.

= On the Cabiri, by Mr. Fréret.

Note. Because Herodotus and Plato always name Hesiod before Homer when they mention these two poets, the Count de Caylus very rightly concludes that Hesiod preceded Homer by a few years.

Addition. — On the paintings of Polygnotus described by Pausanias. (Page 54, volume 13. The Count de Caylus.) These are the two paintings that stirred up that quarrel between Falconnet the sculptor and Mr. Diderot, in which I became involved.

S1.Source editor’s annotationAnother leaf (undated) contains notes Joubert took while reading the fourteenth volume of the History of the Académie des Inscriptions, and in it, notably, “various memoirs by the Count de Caylus.” Page 111: “Egyptian figures, carved... legs — page 218. — Look for a passage relating (I think) to the legs of archaic sculpture, which are roughly carved but which walk. This may serve to date, together with this leaf (which is of no importance), the more important leaves containing extracts from volumes XIII and XV. On this leaf there is a short notice about Mr. de Burigny. “Note. Mr. de Burigny devoted his labors particularly to investigating the character and life of authors once celebrated and whose works we do not possess. An enemy of the oblivion of great names, he puts all his glory into destroying it. The ravages of time have had no more constant repairer. His long life enabled him himself to bring a great number of extinguished reputations back to life. He has taught us many things which, worthy of being known, are not even studied in the books one studies, and thus lie outside common curiosity. (See several of his investigations in the History of the Académie des Inscriptions.)”

T19.The work title is translated freshly while the institution’s name remains French. Pancouke retains the literal source spelling without bibliographic correction; In 4. is contextually rendered in quarto as a format. Canonical source collation distinguishes the raised ordinal e in 13ᵉ from the separate raised annotation call 1 before the baseline final period. English Volume 13 adapts the source ordinal to a cardinal volume label. All bibliographical body text is roman; no external edition is claimed verified.

T24.This complete source-editor annotation remains one paragraph, including its quoted loose-leaf material. The unclosed quotation beginning Egyptian figures is retained before the later Note opening, without an invented closing mark. All page and volume numbers, undated status, parenthetic I-think and importance contrast remain. May serve renders the possibility of dating expressed by future pourra; no date is assigned. English supplies a comma after the which-is-of-no-importance parenthesis. Explicit but which and and whose preserve the separate mais qui and et dont relative connections. French has feminine taillées earlier but anomalous masculine taillés after jambes later; English carved does not reproduce that gender distinction. Scues remains literal French. Only Nota. and its English Note. counterpart are italic, including their periods; other annotation text, titles and Roman numerals are roman. The vivid walking legs, extinguished reputations, oblivion and repairer images are not reduced to biographical summary. The first quoted memoir phrase keeps English terminal punctuation inside its closing quotation mark although the French period follows the guillemet. No implied date, external memoir or quotation has been authenticated.

T188.In the French source, printed item 17 has four separate paragraphs and italic Liasse 22. label, without a date. Original color/native 451 show a smaller raised e after 13, followed by the separately raised annotation call 1 before the baseline period. The source body stores 13ᵉ while the call remains separate metadata. Pancouke is literal; no external bibliography is substituted. Only Nota. in paragraph 3 is italic, including its period. The titles, equals sign, Addit., all names and the parenthetic page/volume reference are roman. Poëtes has two separate upper e components in color; native foreground has reproduction degradation. Polignote and Falconnet remain literal. All ordinary wraps and right endings are complete; the external page numbers do not identify notebook destinations.

T189.In the French source, the complete separate annotation is one paragraph. Its raised call follows the distinct raised ordinal e after 13 and precedes the main baseline period. Only Nota. is italic, including its period; all other annotation text, work titles and Roman XIII/XV are roman. The quotation opened at Figures has no separate visible closing guillemet before the later Nota opening. No closing mark is supplied. The final guillemet follows the complete parenthesis. The three-point group after taillées is printed, not an image loss. The earlier taillées is feminine, while the later source has masculine taillés after jambes; the printed agreement is not repaired. Scues and the circumflex of fît remain. The source has explicit mais qui and et dont; its future pourra retains a possibility of dating, not an assigned date. Page 111, page 218, the fourteenth volume and XIII/XV are bibliographical reference data, not dates or new notebook entries. All ordinary wraps and right endings are complete in the color witness. The native upper annotation crop clips its lower continuation; the complete color lower crop supplies the remainder. No external quotation or historical claim is authenticated here.

T20.The initial equals sign, title and abbreviated honorific remain. Cabiri is the conventional English form of Cabires, but no particular article or cult history is added.

T21.Note freshly translates Nota.; only this cue, including its period, is italic in each language. Always, before, both poets, very-rightly approval and a-few-years conclusion remain as the source’s claim. French poëtes retains its diaeresis; Herodotus, Hesiod and Homer use conventional English names. Mr. is omitted from M. le comte in idiomatic English Count, without altering the title; no ancient chronology is independently certified.

T22.Addition expands Addit. as a body cue; both paintings, the described-by relation, literal external page/volume and first-person involvement remain. Falconnet retains the literal source spelling, while Polygnotus gives Polignote its English name. Mr. is omitted before Count in the complete page-and-volume parenthesis; Mr. before Diderot remains. Addit., the title, the parenthetic reference and all other body text are roman. No external article or quarrel record is authenticated.

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.