Of the letters

[ed. ...which Duval knew. As usual this is my translation from the Latin with Google assist:]

Our author's letters provide an excellent example of this type of style among the Syrians. For literary achievements belonging to the so-called classical age, the Aramaic language still throve in purity not yet fettered by the Arabic language. These are written with excellent artifice and are full of the shapes of words and long periods.

The collection of these letters is to be found in the codex catalogued by the Vatican Library, as Syr. 157; this codex was ascribed by St.E.Assemanus to the thirteenth century, but it seems to be more ancient, and perhaps to be referred to the end of the eighth century; now consists of 124 folia.

...

It is unfortunate that the Vatican codex has been truncated. In the first bundle four leaves are missing, at the beginning, then between folia 6 and 7 [#12/13...]. At the end of the bundle at least two leaves have been cut off from the end.

A more detailed account of the Vatican ASSEMANUS, Bibliothecae Apostolicae Clementino-Vaticanae cod. manuscr. catalogus, t. III, p. 299 & seq.

There exists also another codex in the village of Al-Qos, not far from the city of Mosul: which codex was engraved by a certain Guiwarguis, and was completed in October of the year p. Chr. n. [=A.D.] 1696. But it was copied from the Vatican codex itself, which had already been mutilated; having purchased this in Mesopotamia in the year 1716, J.-S. Asseman brought it with him to Rome. Guiwarguis used a certain skill in transcribing the code to cover its?his? flaws: he omitted an incomplete letter at the beginning, as well as the twelfth letter of the first part, which was mutilated at the end; and when the innermost letter of the Gospel of St. John had ceased to exist, he completed his sentence with ease; at the beginning and at the end he added an inscription and a clause, so that the codex appeared intact.

From that new codex were made two apographs: under the care of cl. v. A. Wallis Budge, for his own use; and another, under the care of I.-B. Chabot, which is now reserved in the Parisian National Library under n° 336 - and this by Peter the scribe, son of the priest Joseph, in the city of Tell-Kepha, in the month of May, p. Chr. n. 1896, was completed.

In our edition we have copied out the entire Vatican codex and carefully inspected the Parisian manuscript, as it deserves. For this codex does not disregard the usefulness of some words in the now-truncated Vatican codex; moreover, a qualified secretary provides some corrections, which we have noted at the bottom of the page.

In the footnotes the letter V indicates the Vatican code and the letter P the Parisian codex.

The entire collection of letters is now published for the first time. . . .

Finally, at the time when our work was published, came a book from London entitled: The Book of Consolations, or the Pastoral Epistles of Mar Isho-Yahbh by Scott-Moncrieff, part I. 1904. This book contains only the Syrian text of the first part of the letters; but the editor has completely neglected the Vatican codex, and used only the apographs purchased by Budge, of which we have written, that they came with little accuracy; it appears that edition has been less graciously received by learned men. The other parts have not forthcome.