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first·ly (fûrstl)
adv.

In the first place; to begin with.

Usage Note: It is well established that either first or firstly can be used to begin an enumeration: Our objectives are, first (or firstly), to recover from last year's slump. Any succeeding items should be introduced by words parallel to the form that is chosen, as in first... second... third or firstly... secondly... thirdly.

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firstly, adv.
In the first place, before anything else, first.
Used only in enumerating heads, topics, etc. in discourse; and many writers prefer first, even though closely followed by secondly, thirdly, etc.
The word is not in Johnson's Dict. Smart (1846) s.v. First has the note: ‘Some late authors use Firstly for the sake of its more accordant sound with secondly, thirdly, etc.’

c1532[ G. DU WES Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 928 Fyrstly, premierment. 1562 J. HEYWOOD Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 216 Walke thou fyrstly, walke thou lastly: Walke in the walke that standeth fastly. 1668 WILKINS Real Char. 393 The Adverb, Firstly, secondly, thirdly. 1723 LADY M. W. MONTAGU Lett. (1893) I. 466 A most delightful [ballad]..which has been laid firstly to Pope, and secondly to me. 1726 Ibid. I. 495 Firstly, she was pleased to attack me in very Billingsgate at a masquerade. 1816 SCOTT Old Mort. iv, The consequence thereof..will be, firstly, that I will tweak thy proboscis or nose. 1847 DE QUINCEY Sp. Mil. Nun §5 First (for I detest your ridiculous and most pedantic neologism of firstly). 1857 GLADSTONE Oxf. Ess. 1 These objects are twofold: firstly, to promote [etc.].

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Granted that neither first nor firstly is a hanging offense, even professional lexicographers may have a personal preference.

Ultimately, the choice is one of style: Since first is a perfectly good adverb just as it stands, there is no need for the -ly. As E.B. White put it in the chapter he contributed to Strunk and White's The Elements of Style (1959): "Do not dress words up by adding 'ly' to them, as though putting a hat on a horse."

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When speakers are trying to impress audiences with their rhetoric, they often seem to feel that the extra syllable in “importantly” lends weight to their remarks: “and more importantly, I have an abiding love for the American people.” However, these pompous speakers are wrong. It is rarely correct to use this form of the phrase because it is seldom adverbial in intention. Say “more important” instead. The same applies to “most importantly”; it should be “most important.”

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Some people object to the use of the phrase more importantly in place of more important as a means of introducing an assertion, as in More importantly, there is no one ready to step into the vacuum left by the retiring senator. But both forms are widely used, and there is no obvious reason for preferring one or the other.

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The only English Pope was Nicholas Breakspear who ruled from December 4, 1154 as Adrian IV.

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I thought this phrase came from Hamlet and specifically means "to die." Am I nuts, or is QT?