 Having a good education, he was placed in the offices of the Intendance of the Duchy of Lorraine, and applied himself fully to acquire the knowledge necessary to an administrator.Struck with the imperfection of the works that existed on the topography of Lorraine, he formed the project to write one that would depart from the drought classifications and the prolixity of particular stories, contain accurate records on cities, towns and villages of this country.He published various essays to better understand if the project would be enjoyed and to request help from enlightened people ; he finally brought out, after twenty years of work and research, a "Description de la Lorraine et du Barrois" which was regarded, rightly, as a model of this kind of works.