First edition, proof copy. Last Orders is a narrative tracing the journey of four men from Bermondsey to Margate to scatter the ashes of London butcher Jack Dobbs into the sea. Considered one of Swift’s most important novels, the personal histories of Dobbs and his fellow travellers are gradually uncovered in the course of their journey from London to the coast. The novel won the Booker Prize in 1996 and a film of the novel was produced in 2001, directed by Fred Schepisi and starring Michael Caine, Tom Courtenay, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Ray Winstone, and others.

This proof copy lacks some text which is present in the first edition: for example, the verso of the half-title has the text ‘Copy to be supplied’ (this page would list Swift’s other books in the published work), the dedication page is marked ‘Dedication to follow’, and the acknowledgments which are printed at the end of the first edition are not present here. Like all proof copies, the proof of the first edition is much rarer than the published first edition itself.