His research in Grenoble in 1803 revealed the existence of a Merovingian crypt under the church of St. Laurent.

He afterwards became keeper of manuscripts at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, and professor of palaeography at the École des Chartes.

[2] He edited several of his brother's works, and was also author of original works on philological and historical subjects, among which may be mentioned:[1] His son Aimé-Louis (1812–1894) became his father's assistant at the Bibliothèque Nationale and, besides a number of works on historical subjects, wrote a biographical and bibliographical study of his family in Les Deux Champollion (Grenoble, 1887).

[1] In Vif near Grenoble, The Champollion Museum is located at the former abode of Jacques Joseph.

[citation needed] Champollion was portrayed by Stuart Bunce in the 2005 BBC docudrama Egypt.