In 1841 Denis once again showed the European world his interest in Portuguese culture when he published Camoens et ses contemporains, the preface to a new French edition of the Lusíadas. The reading public had already become used to learning more about certain figures of primary importance in Portuguese and Brazilian history by reading the biographical articles Denis published in the collective work Nouvelle Biographie Générale.

However, his main and most enduring legacy for Portuguese culture was undoubtedly his 1846 Le Portugal Pictoresque. In a single volume but without dividing the material into chapters (only into unnumbered paragraphs), Denis first analyses the main facts of Portuguese history from the time of Count D. Henrique (Count Henry of Burgundy) up to the Pombaline reform of the University of Coimbra in 1772. Then follow pages dedicated to geography, statistics, nineteenth century art and national monuments, and a conclusion that sums up the most recent historical data from 1807 to 1834 with some interesting comments and bibliographical references to the dramatic political events of 1828 to 1834.

Le Portugal Pictoresque is a compact work written in simple language with a useful index of themes and cited authors as well as engraved illustrations. It was the result of the author’s collection and compilation of sources for over two decades and of his continuous creative effort. Originally published in instalments, it was almost immediately translated into Portuguese in five volumes (1846-1848) with the title and subtitle Portugal Pictoresco ou descrição histórica deste reino (Picturesque Portugal or the historical description of this kingdom) and it became an instant success and an editorial phenomenon. How was it possible, though, that a work organized in one single volume in French turned into several volumes in Portuguese? The Portuguese edition has the words “Publicada por uma Sociedade” (Published by a Society), that is to say, a group of scholars or men of letters who set out to adapt it to the new liberal Portugal, dividing it up in a more practical way, adding a fourth volume dedicated to artistic and archaeological monuments, places and cultural traditions (in the style of a guidebook or tourist itinerary) and even a fifth volume devoted to the narration of the most tragic episodes of the Portuguese Inquisition. This popular French feuilletoniste concept as a way to spread historical and cultural knowledge is in fact present in the original volume which seems to be mainly a collection of historical and literary episodes and narratives taken from various sources, even from earlier texts by the author (for example, the preface about Camões he had published in 1841).

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