The edition of 1494, which is justly regarded as the _editio princeps_ of the _Book of the Consulate_, contains, in the first place, a code of procedure issued by the kings of Aragon for the guidance of the courts of the consuls of the sea, in the second place, a collection of ancient customs of the sea, and thirdly, a body of ordinances for the government of cruisers of war. A colophon at the end of these ordinances informs the readers that "the book commonly called the _Book of the Consulate_ ends here"; after which there follows a document known by the title of _The Acceptations_, which purports to record that the previous chapters and ordinances had been approved by the Roman people in the 11th century, and by various princes and peoples in the 12th and 13th centuries. Capmany was the first person to question the authenticity of this document in his _Memorias historicas sobre la marina, &c., de Barcelona_, published at Madrid in 1779-1792. Pardessus and other writers on maritime law followed up the inquiry in the 19th century, and have conclusively shown that the document, whatever may have been its origin, has no proper reference to the _Book of the Consulate_, and is, in fact, of no historical value whatsoever. The paging of the edition of 1494 ceases with this document, at the end of which is the printer's colophon, reciting that "the work was completed on the 14th of July 1494, at Barcelona, by Pere Posa, priest and printer." The remainder of the volume consists of what may be regarded as an appendix to the original _Book of the Consulate_. This appendix contains various maritime ordinances of the kings of Aragon and of the councillors of the city of Barcelona, ranging over a period from 1340 to 1484. It is printed apparently in the same type with the preceding part of the volume. The original _Book of the Consulate_, coupled with this appendix, constitutes the work which has obtained general circulation in Europe under the title of _The Consulate of the Sea_, and which in the course of the 16th century was translated into the Castilian, the Italian, and the French languages. The Italian translation, printed at Venice in 1549 by Jean Baptista Pedrezano, was the version which obtained the largest circulation in the north of Europe, and led many jurists to suppose the work to have been of Italian origin. In the next following century the work was translated into Dutch by Westerven, and into German by Engelbrecht, and it is also said to have been translated into Latin.