Photo: Auckland Museum
Sitting atop Pukekawa Hill in the city's Domain, the Auckland War Memorial Museum is one of Tāmaki Makaurau's most iconic landmarks.
The striking neo-classical building with its large colonnades is a far cry from the museum's previous premises , overseen by its longest serving curator, Thomas Cheeseman.
Mr Cheeseman, who held the position for 50 years, is credited with helping to shape the museum into the world class institution it is today but his name is largely unknown outside academic circles.
A new book aims to change that. Co-written by Andrew McKay and Richard Wolfe, The Collector is a biography of a man they also describe as a 'colonial scholar, scientist ... and gentleman.'
