I have the privilege of meeting extraordinary people during my tenure as museum curator and I count Thomas Volitare as one of them. He has devoted his life to delivering the written word to countless hungry minds who may find themselves isolated for one reason or another. A human of many talents: a pioneering ship designer, a notable scholar, a master archivist and editor and a fearless and compassionate captain to his crew.
The collection he has chosen to donate speaks of the time he rushed to the rescue of the residents of the Illuminated Isles after a fire devoured their own library in under a day. During that time he had the opportunity to meet great minds which previously had preferred to withdraw from the world and delve into their own being for answers - the Illuminated Isles are after all a famous philosopher’s retreat - and also work on his own project, a dictionary of impressive proportions, editing it and adding to it relentlessly. The collection comprises mostly of books and tools with a few other additions. The “scissors of sincerity” were an invaluable editing tool for him and the word dissecting tool aided him greatly in his adventures in etymology. His work may revolve round books but so does his pleasure therefore when in need of some respite he would withdraw to the deck garden and read two of his favourites: Journal of an Aviary Keeper and The Metaphysics of Solitude. When the Isle’s library was finally completed Volitare’s work was done but before he departed, he was gifted “The Perspective Shifter” by the very grateful philosophers. Although he counts this book as one of his most precious belongings it had the side effect of making him indecisive something he found difficult to deal with. Thomas and the Biblioteca Volitare still plough the seas carrying their valuable cargo far and wide and making this world a more enlightened place because of it.
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About the CuratorMy name is Juniper And I am the principle Curator of the Memento Vivere Museum. My duties include taking care of the primary displays, seeing that every collection is archived correctly and in general ensuring that everything within the museum’s grounds works like clockwork. However, because of the museum’s dwindling spacial capacity, I have taken it upon my self to compile several volumes presenting some of the more interesting and poignant collections that the visitor will very possibly never get to view. Dear reader, within these pages, I shall be sharing some of these collections with you. I do hope you enjoy what I have to show you. Archives
April 2018
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