His first literary work was a translation of Francesco Sforza Pallavicino's Storia del Concilio Tridentino for the Migne collection.
To the same period belongs the Légende de Notre-Dame (Paris, 1848), written under the influence of Montalembert.
He collaborated with Collin in the twenty-five volume Grande Vie des Saints (Paris, 1873–75).
In the meantime he had prepared the material for his chief work: Histoire de l'Eglise depuis la création, the first twenty-five volumes of which appeared before his death (Paris, 1875–77).
After his death, J. Bareille continued the work to the pontificate of Clement VII (volumes XXVI-XXXII, Paris, 1879–84).