His naval experiences supplied much of the materials of his first novels, "Kernock le pirate" (1830), "Atar-Gull" (1831), "La Salamandre" (2 vols., 1832), "La Coucaratcha" (4 vols., 1832–1834), and others, which were composed at the height of the Romantic movement of 1830. In the quasi-historical style he wrote "Jean Cavalier, ou Les Fanatiques des Cevennes" (4 vols., 1840) and "Latréaumont" (2 vols., 1837). His "Mathilde" (6 vols., 1841) contains the first known expression of the popular proverb ""La vengeance se mange très-bien froide"", translated in 1846 as ""Revenge is very good eaten cold"" by D.G. Osborne, also constituting the first known English usage of the proverb, and lately expressed in English as ""Revenge is a dish best served cold"".