The publication of his Prospetto politico-geografico dello stato attuale del globo (Venice, 1808) obtained his election to the chair of professor of geography at the college of San Michele at Murano; in 1811–1813 he was professor of physics at the Lyceum of Fermo, and afterwards became attached to the customs office at his native city.
This was followed by Variétés politiques et statistiques de la monarchie portugaise, which contains some observations respecting that country under the Roman sway.
In 1826 he published the first volume of his Atlas ethnographique du globe, ou classification des peuples anciens et modernes d’après leurs langues, a work of great erudition.
[citation needed] In 1832 appeared the Abrégé de Geographie, which, in an enlarged form, was translated.
[1] His son, Eugenio Balbi (1812–1884), followed a similar career, being professor of geography at Pavia, and publishing his father's Scritti Geografici (Turin, 1841), and original works in Gea, ossia la terra (Trieste, 1854–1867) and Saggio di geografia (Milan, 1868).