With the enthusiasm of one who was experiencing cultural universes that were little known beyond the borders of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves (and together with the wonder born of direct observation), even before he reached the age of majority Denis published Le Brésil, ou histoire, moeurs, usages et coutumes de ce royaume (in 6 vols., Paris, 1821-22) in collaboration with Hippolyte Taunay, son of the famous painter Taunay who was part of the French artistic mission in Brazil. Denis is also known to have been in Portugal and Spain, probably during the period of the liberal regimes in the two countries (1820-23). He published works about South America once again in 1823 (Buenos Aires et le Paraguay) and in 1825 (Résumé de l'histoire du Brésil, adopted shortly afterwards by Brazilian schools). As the young Brazilian nation was born, Europe’s interest in its cultural and historical identity grew as did the literary career of Denis.

In 1826, when D. Pedro IV imposed the Carta Constitucional (Constitutional Charter) on Portugal, Denis published Résumé de l'histoire littéraire du Portugal, suivi de l'histoire littéraire du Brésil. Despite his youth, the author was already able to make informed comments about “the writing of European literary histories” and about the scarcity of various Portuguese works mentioned by Sismondi (which Heinrich Schaefer would also complain about a decade later), a difficulty which in his case he was able to overcome owing to some “amis des lettres” (pp. VII-VIII and XXII-XXIII). He ends his introduction with the wish that the book might prove useful to the readers: “puisse-t-il donner le désir d'étudier la littérature d'un peuple que ses institutions ont rendu en peu de temps si intéressant pour le reste de l'Europe!” (p. XXV).

The work is not divided into equal parts, which is logical if we compare the long history of Portuguese literature with the recent nature of its Brazilian counterpart. Thus, thirty-four chapters are dedicated to Portuguese literature and some very recent events are mentioned such as the founding of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences in 1779 (chap. XXX). The final eight chapters are devoted to Brazil. Portuguese literary history is divided into five periods, with the first covering the 14th and 15th centuries and the last one ending with the death of Filinto Elísio in the 19th century. The author considers this to be an innovation since an additional period immediately following the death of Camões is included, which is a period he considers had not yet been touched by the decadence of Portuguese poetry (pp. IX-XVIII).

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