He was encouraged to take up a literary career by
Victor Hugo. His romance novels were compared to the works of
Émile Zola and
Alphonse Daudet.
The Confession of an Abbe was published in English by the month of his death. Described as a powerful story, it tells the story of a priest who "in a moment of passion forgets his vows."
The Steel Hammer was another of his books that was translated into English. He was connected with ''
L'Indépendance Belge for many years. He edited the Revue de Paris from 1852 until its suppression in 1858. As Ferragus, he called the novel Thérèse Raquin'' "putrid" in a long diatribe. It was said sarcastically of Ulbach that he was so painfully careful with his style that "he would split a hair in four." In 1868 he founded a weekly journal,
La Cloche, patterned after
La Lanterne by
Henri Rochefort. Upon on his release he revived the paper he got into trouble both with the
commune and the government, and was again imprisoned in 1871–1872. When he was released, he devoted himself to literature and withdrew from politics. He was the editor of
Raillement in 1876. In 1878 he was made
librarian of the
Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal. He was a leader in the movement for perpetual copyright to authors. ==References==