Based on a report by Hippolyte Fortoul, Minister of Education and Religion, Napoleon III signed a decree on 13 September 1852 ordering a compilation of popular French poetry to be published (a publication which eventually never saw the daylight). Inspired by "Barzaz Breiz: Chants populaires de la Bretagne", published by Théodore Hersart de La Villemarqué from 1839 onwards, de Coussemaker - as a correspondent for the Committee of Language, History and the Arts of France - collected the songs of his region together. His renown in circles of folklorists today is exclusively based on his "Chants populaires des Flamands de France" (popular songs of the Flemings in France) published in Gent, three years later.