He was imprisoned in the Bastille from 23 to 29 January 1778 for refusing to stamp counterfeit books.
He was appointed librarian at the Académie des inscriptions (1788) and member of the French Academy of Sciences (1788).
From January 1795, he worked as an employee of the temporary committee of the Arts to establish the catalogs of confiscated libraries.
He is a well-known figure among bibliophiles, as well as his two sons, Jean Jacques Debure and Marie Jean Debure, for the excellency of their catalogs among which those of the libraries of duke of La Vallière, Loménie de Brienne, Pierre Paul Louis Randon de Boisset, Louis Marie d'Aumont and Baron d'Holbach.
From December 1774 to June 1780, he worked in partnership with his younger brother François-Jean-Noël Debure under the reason "Debure Brothers" and from 1803 to 1813, in partnership with his sons who became his successors.