In preparing the following treatise I have had to depend almost entirely on my own investigations. The Christian accentuologists of the 17th and 18th centuries, to whom we owe the discovery of the leading principles that underlie the Hebrew accentuation, were not successful (as, I presume, all who have consulted their Works will allow) in dealing with the peculiar system of the three so-called Poetical Books. I have gained therefore but little help from them. In the present century, only two scholars, Ewald and Baer, have ventured on an independent examination of the subject. Ewald's speculations I have not been able to accept.
I may draw attention to one respect in which the present Work differs from any of those which have preceded it. It is founded, in a great measure, on an extensive examination of MSS. I soon saw that even our best texts need correction, as far as the accents are concerned; and that, without a correct text, I could not hope to establish any rules on a satisfactory basis. I therefore visited the leading Libraries of Europe, and collated, as far as seemed necessary, most of the known MSS. The main results are given in the course of the following pages. I venture to hope that this part of my Work will be particularly acceptable to scholars.
