Historian, jurist, and avocat au parlement de Rouen.

His best-known work, De la législation criminelle (Bâle, 1782), in which he presented his controversial ideas concerning incest, desertion, the death penalty, and crimes against nature, was banned in France.

Author of Histoire de la ville de Rouen (Rouen, 1775) and Manuel de jurisprudence générale (Paris, 1784).

Born in Dieppe.