Scotland's oldest printed book on show

THE earliest dated printed book in Scotland goes on display in the Capital today 500 years after it was made.

John Lydgate's The Complaint of the Black Knight was printed by Chepman and Myllar on April 4, 1508, at their press in the city's Southgate, which is now the Cowgate.

The last known surviving copy of it is held by the National Library of Scotland and goes on display today.

Brian Hillyard, rare books collections manager at the library, said: "It was not unusual for books to be dated but dates were normally written at the end in the early 16th century which is the most unprotected part of the book."