At the conclusion of his introductory book on musicology, Armand Machabey briefly hinted at a related study, that of musicologists themselves. The musicologist, Machabey affirmed, was on the whole a positive being who contributed to the good of society but who also craved isolation for work which often went unrewarded. This scholar's accomplishments, though sometimes tedious, were nonetheless beneficial to society, for, among other things, they increased public enjoyment of classical music. The musicologist had one flaw, however: a tendency to ‘treat his conclusions as personal and untouchable acquisitions’. What is more, an undue ‘attachment to an illusory priority can lead him to the tragic and ridiculous’.A. Machabey, La musicologie, 2nd edn (Que Sais-Je, 978; Paris, 1969), pp. 120-1: ‘Il a une propension à tenir ses conclusions pour des acquisitions personnelles intouchables et son attachement à une illusoire priorité peut le conduire jusqu'au tragique et au ridicule.’