I have been very sorry to hear news of the death of Bob Pirie, a great book collector and anglophile, lawyer, banker, specialist in the works of Donne, and all-round colourful character.   I first met him in Boston in the mid-1970s when he invited me to lunch at the Club of Odd Volumes and I used to see him when I was in New York and vice versa.   He was one of the people involved in the early days of the American Associates of the Royal Academy.   I will miss his advice.