A full-page engraving depicts Saint Ephrem the Syrian. He is shown as an elderly monk with a long, flowing grey beard, standing on a tiled floor. He wears a dark monastic habit with a heavy cloak. His hood, or klobuk, bears a small white cross on the forehead. A faint, radiant halo surrounds his head. In his right hand, he holds an unfurled vertical scroll inscribed with Greek text. His left hand is partially tucked into the folds of his robes. The portrait is enclosed within a multi-line rectangular frame. At the bottom of the frame, a separate banner displays a Latin couplet. The engraver's signature appears at the bottom right, outside the main border.

SAINT EPHREM THE SYRIAN

LOVE
AND
SELF-
CONTROL
PURIFY
THE SOUL. original: "Ἡ ἀγάπη καὶ ἐγκράτεια ψυχὴν καθαίρουσιν." This is a foundational ethical teaching attributed to Saint Ephrem.

This is the venerable face of the wondrous Syrian, Ephrem,

But his eloquent writings reveal the likeness of his soul.

original: "Hæc Veneranda Syri facies mirabilis Ephræm / Ast animi effigiem scripta diserta docent." This Latin couplet contrasts the physical portrait of the saint with the deeper portrait found in his theological works.

THE HOLY

EPHREM THE SYRIAN

COMPLETE WORKS

DIVIDED INTO SIX VOLUMES.

A purple ink library stamp belonging to Henri Hyvernat (1858–1941), a distinguished professor of Biblical Archaeology and Semitic languages at the Catholic University of America. Rev. H. HYVERNAT, D. D. original: "Doctor of Divinity" Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. Handwritten in pencil 1 complete Refers to this being the first volume of the set.

Ephrem the Syrian original: "Ephraem Syrus"; a 4th-century deacon, poet, and theologian highly venerated in the Syriac tradition., Complete Works original: "Opera Omnia"; the full collection of an author's writings., Volume original: "Tomus", H. Hyvernat Henri Hyvernat, the French-American Coptologist and Semitist who formerly owned this copy.