Last but not least

We know ‘last but not least’ best from its use in the theatre. In Variety theatre especially it was a commonplace part of introductions and that usage was presumably encouraged by the fact that the star turn invariably came on last. The origin of last but not least is uncertain – the first reference to it that I can find in print is from John Lyly’s Euphues and His England, 1580.

I have heard oftentimes that in love there are three things for to be used: if time serve, violence, if wealth be great, gold, if necessity compel, sorcery. But of these three but one can stand me in stead – the last, but not the least’; which is able to work the minds of all women like wax

The idea, if not the actual phrase, may have been inspired the Bible, where a similar thought is expressed – in Matthew 19:30 (John Wyclif’s version ), 1382, we find:

But manye schulen be, the firste the laste, and the laste the firste.

Shakespeare later used a version of the phrase in King Lear, 1605:

KING LEAR:
To thee and thine hereditary ever
Remain this ample third of our fair kingdom;
No less in space, validity, and pleasure,
Than that conferr’d on Goneril. Now, our joy,
Although the last, not least; to whose young love
The vines of France and milk of Burgundy
Strive to be interess’d; what can you say to draw
A third more opulent than your sisters? Speak.