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This article analyzes the life of Pierre Barthès, “maître écrivain” in Toulouse, who kept a diary recounting elements of his life and of public events that occurred in Toulouse between 1737 and 1781. Although the historians of Toulousian social life often use this text as a primary source, its author is still largely unknown, as well as the purpose and the functions of his diary. However, to read this source properly, it is necessary to analyze the functions and the uses of this private chronicle, and to contextualize it through its author’s social and familiar trajectory. In fact, this article proposes to understand the chronicle through the chronicler.