[xviii] To the glory and praise of Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Virgin Mary our Intercessor, the great saints of God, Saint Helena, Saint Michael, Saint Anthony, and Saint Clara, patrons and intercessors of sailors , and in praise of the whole Heavenly Hosts.

Because there are many ambiguities in the definitions as well as in the resolutions and decisions contained within the pages of the Consulate Book, I, Francis Celelles, in order to rectify these errors, and motivated solely by good intentions, having sought and profited by the advice of learned and experienced men as well as patrons of vessels, merchants, sailors, and others, have attempted after much labor and research in the original documents to make the necessary corrections as far as that was possible; and in order to achieve uniformity and sequence , I have determined to add several chapters, ordinances, and other documents related to the subject matter contained in this book.

Furthermore, because the articles contained in the book were misplaced, I prepared an index that is arranged in the following manner: First are listed all the entries relating to the election of Consuls, Judges of Appeal, Clerks, as well as the judicial procedures established for these courts. Next, information relating to the construction of vessels , outfitting and capacity of the same. Lastly, all the possible circumstances that may befall a vessel while moored or under sail. The initial entry in each category is given in large letters. It identified the topic that will be discussed, followed by citations of all the pages in the book that have reference to this topic. This procedure, which made it possible to collect all the information relative to any topic mentioned anywhere in the book, is followed by a page number and the number of the Article. This procedure makes it very easy to refer to any item within the book.