Pierre Attaingnant (ca. 1494-ca. 1551) was a French music printer, publisher, and bookseller. Attaingnant published a good deal of new, original works of French composers. French composers in the 16th century began composing a new type of music, called the chanson. From 1528 ot 1552, Attaingnant published more than 50 collections of chansons. (Grout, 207) In addition, Attaingnant published several collections of dance music, some of which are listed below. In 1528, Attaingnant invented a new method for printing music where both the staff segments and the notes were combined so it could be printed with a single impression, in one step. As a result, he was able to produce more tablatures faster. This system did have it's drawbacks; there were frequently many errors in notes and note-values. The staves also had many gaps in it and no clear barlines. However, Attaingnant's system was the standard for printed music in the 16th century. (Reese, 91)