In December 1871, the biennial grand prize of the Institute, endowed with twenty thousand francs, the first winner of which had been Adolphe Thiers in 1861, was awarded to Guizot on the initiative of the Académie française. Guizot expressed his thanks in the following terms in a letter:
«Letters have truly unparalleled rewards for those who, after having associated themselves with their cult with the confident ambitions of youth, come at the end of a troubled life to ask them for a dignified rest in the midst of work that is always so sweet.»
Guizot used the sum received to endow a triennial prize for a work by an author or a work of French literature: The Guizot Prize of the Académie française, which still exists today, was awarded for the first time in 1875.
In 1994, the Prix Guizot Foundation (whose remit was literary) was merged with the Baron de Courcel Foundation, the Loiseau Foundation, the Eugène Piccard Foundation and the Feydeau de Brou Foundation (whose remit was historical). The group of foundations was responsible for awarding a general history prize under the same name of «Prix Guizot». Since 1995, the prize has continued to honour the memory of its founder, each year rewarding one or more authors of historical studies.