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.

Explore the Lexicon

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1805 · Entry 4399

Swipe or use the arrow keys.

French Page · Branch 618 of 4529

YEAR 1805 · Entry 4399

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 1235

21 décembre.

« La tragédie (disoient ils) prend pour ses personnages les meilleurs, et la comédie les pires. » Le vrai commun et purement réel […] peut être l’objet des arts. Hors du portrait; et même dans le portrait, il faut que le semblable et le plus beau se trouvent réunis ensemble.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1805

p. 1236

December 21.

“Tragedy (they said) takes the best for its characters, and comedy the worst.” The common and purely real true […] can be the object of the arts. Except in portraiture; and even in portraiture, the like and the more beautiful must be brought together.

T217.After réel, the facsimile’s damaged right margin leaves possible text unreadable. The gap is retained in both languages. A lost ne would make the statement negative, which the following exception seems to favor, but its presence cannot be certified; the translation therefore does not silently insert not. The polarity remains unresolved and requires a clearer source. Le vrai, le semblable, and le plus beau retain their substantive forms: the true, the like, and the more beautiful.

T389.The damaged right edge clips the beginnings/endings of meilleurs, portrait and ensemble, which are restored from the visible fragments and context. After réel, the line ending is lost: […] marks unresolved possible text. A negative ne before peut is contextually plausible but cannot be certified from the surviving glyphs and is not supplied.

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.