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 8300

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French Page · Branch 4519 of 4529

UNDATED · Entry 8300

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 9037

60 (Liasse 9.)

(Virtuti simillimus. Vell. Patere.) Fontenelle fut un sage. Examinons comment il mérita ce titre que lui donna l’opinion publique toujours si juste quoique si peu précise dans les dénominations des êtres et des choses.

Je ne connois qu’un moyen de louer et d’aprécier les hommes. C’est de les comparer au modèle idéal le plus parfait que l’on puisse se former de l’homme en rassemblant les traits épars qui ont paru les plus beaux dans le petit nombre d’hommes éminens dont la mémoire s’est conservé.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: UNDATED

p. 9038

60 (Bundle 9.)

(Most like virtue. Vell. Patere.) Fontenelle was a wise man. Let us examine how he earned this title bestowed on him by public opinion, always so just though so imprecise in its names for beings and things.

I know only one way to praise and appraise men. It is to compare them with the most perfect ideal model of man one can form by gathering the scattered traits that have seemed most beautiful in the small number of eminent men whose memory has survived.

T103.Virtuti simillimus is freshly rendered Most like virtue, preserving its compressed comparison rather than supplying a missing person or context. The printed attribution remains unexpanded. The title is wise man; always, so/so and the contrast remain. Only Virtuti simillimus. and Most like virtue. are italic through their periods; the enclosing parentheses and literal attribution Vell. Patere. are roman. Though so imprecise gives natural inverse wording to quoique si peu précise. No outside Latin witness or expanded attribution is supplied.

T244.In the French source, printed item 60 owns two complete paragraphs. Only Virtuti simillimus. is italic through its period; enclosing parentheses and literal Vell. Patere. are roman. No attribution expansion or outside Latin witness is supplied. Literal aprécier with one p, éminens and mémoire s’est conservé without a feminine ending remain. Raised call 1 follows conservé before its baseline period. The simple-past fut/mérita/donna and both superlative relations remain.

S1.Source editor’s annotationAt the bottom of the leaf, which is torn, one can still read: “...than the wise man. It is what most resembles... man, man par excellence, and far above the wise man.”

T104.Only, praise/appraise, ideal model, scattered traits, seemed, small number and surviving memory remain. The ideal is assembled rather than attributed to one historical person. Both most-perfect and most-beautiful superlatives remain. French retains aprécier with one p, éminens and anomalous mémoire s’est conservé without a feminine ending. Ordinary English surviving memory does not correct that French form. The entire paragraph is roman, and source call 1 precedes its terminal period.

T110.The physical damage, both printed ellipses, incomplete comparison and repeated wise man remain. Than is a contextual rendering of surviving que; the missing construction is not reconstructed. French explicitly prints homme, à l’homme par excellence. English contextually shares the preceding resembles relation across man, man par excellence instead of giving à a separate to; this does not certify the missing syntactic connection across the ellipsis. The source editor describes a torn original leaf, not a new loss in the page reproduction. The complete annotation is roman, and its quoted terminal period already lies inside the closing mark.

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.