 In 1776, he was appointed librarian of the Sorbonne.He promised to emulate the great librarians of the past, such as cardinals Quirini (1680-17590) and Passionei (1682–1761), who served as librarians of the Vatican; Gabriel Naudé, creator of the Mazarine library; Johann Michel Francke (1717–1775), who created the catalog of the magnificent library of Count Bünau, minister of the king of Saxony; and Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672–1750), priest, historian, antiquarian and archivist and librarian of the Ducal Court of Modena, one of the foremost scholars of his age.On December 23, 1780, Cotton des Houssayes presented a discourse in Latin to the assembled faculty, entitled "Oratio habita in Comitiis Generalibus Societatis Sorbonicae".