The text of this edition was newly received from all the MSS. and was translated and edited by Herbert Edward Ryle and Montague Rhodes James. One reason for this edition is the fact that existing editions and commentaries were unsatisfactory and difficult to access.

The history of the Psalms as gathered from various sources is very short and scanty. There are four known MSS., one of which is available in a printed edition. The range of which The Psalms were written, based on internal data, would be B.C.E. 70 to B.C.E. 40. They were probably written in Jerusalem by one or more Pharisites. The purpose was to deliver a solemn protest to devout Pharisaism against the corrupting influence upon the nation of the surviving members members of the Asmonean party.

There are nineteen chapters.

It was published by the University of Cambridge Press in 1891.