From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Remembrance
souvenir; réminiscence
Souvenir can be a remembered thing or the act of recalling it.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordSouvenir can be a remembered thing or the act of recalling it.
- In JoubertThe mind in the reminiscence passage picks up a trail among memories to recover a particular lost one.
- In this editionThe English translation varies memory and recollection for souvenir while reserving reminiscence for the explicitly named operation.
- A place to beginReminiscence tracks memories to recover a lost memory.
- English renderings
- recollection; memory; reminiscence
Meaning
Souvenir can be a remembered thing or the act of recalling it. Réminiscence is explicitly described as a retrieval operation.
Use in the book
The mind in the reminiscence passage picks up a trail among memories to recover a particular lost one. Its tracking is a process, not the spontaneous invention of a replacement. The traveling minds that bring back everything from books offer a contrasting picture of extensive retention: Joubert assigns them dictionaries and collections as suitable work. In old age, arrangement around oneself makes recollection easier and spares effort. That material assistance belongs to the practical setting of remembrance rather than to a claim that memory alone is sufficient for understanding.
Places to read
- II, p. 649, entry 1, ¶1Reminiscence tracks memories to recover a lost memory.
- I, p. 122, entry 10, ¶1Traveling minds return from books with remembered contents.
- II, p. 783, entry 3, ¶1External arrangement assists memory and recollection.
Translation in this edition
The English translation varies memory and recollection for souvenir while reserving reminiscence for the explicitly named operation. Trail and tracking preserve both images. The complete English brackets on II.783 qualify damaged French words; they are not authorial hesitations.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 122; II, pp. 649, 783.
From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Remembrance
remembrance; remember — keeping or bringing a benefit before the mind
Remembrance is active mental presence: a past gift or an absent good is recalled so that it can affect present understanding and conduct.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordRemembrance is active mental presence: a past gift or an absent good is recalled so that it can affect present understanding and conduct.
- In TraherneTraherne’s memory is not confined to the recovery of his own childhood.
- In this editionThe headword denotes an act, while Memory elsewhere names a power or repository.
- A place to beginRemembrance of created glory deepens penitence and humility.
Meaning
Remembrance is active mental presence: a past gift or an absent good is recalled so that it can affect present understanding and conduct.
Use in the book
Traherne’s memory is not confined to the recovery of his own childhood. The reader is asked to remember the dignity of creation and the estate from which humanity has fallen. Such remembrance makes repentance more exact, because it measures failure against an originally glorious calling rather than against mere social disapproval.
It is also a defence against a misleading present impression. In the lonely field, the visible scene seems empty and threatening; remembered joys, friendship, cities, and providential care restore the invisible connections that the eye has lost. Remembrance supplies neither fantasy nor denial of solitude. It corrects the narrowness of the moment by keeping real but absent goods available to the understanding.
Places to read
In this edition
The headword denotes an act, while Memory elsewhere names a power or repository. “Recollection” is a useful modern equivalent here, not a separate technical term attributed to Traherne.
Source note
Primary text: I.78, II.5, III.23. No 2026 editorial notes used.