FRÉNAUD (André). La Femme de ma vie. Paris, Librairie Auguste Blaizot, 1943. In-4, violet calf, both covers and spine decorated with a dazzling star-shaped composition, with a pink mosaic piece in the centre, from which facsimiles of the title "la femme de ma vie" are repeatedly embossed, some in cold, others in white or ochre, pink paper lining, ochre wallpaper endpapers, smooth spine, muted cover of pink lace on paper preserved in one piece, matching chemise and slipcases. (Mercher). First edition of this poem by André Frénaud, La femme de ma vie, as imagined by the painter Jean Fautrier. This artist's book opens with variations of the title in various shades, including pink and violet, and continues with verses from the poem, before finally reproducing the manuscript of this piece in black. The edition is illustrated with five double-page plates in violet with the text of the poem in white, interspersed between the variations of the title. These compositions are again combined in a very large fold-out plate at the end of the work, the verso of which is covered with pink lace, identical to that used for the cover. Limited edition of 21 copies: one of 15 on vélin d'Auvergne (No. 12), the only paper after 6 japons. Exceptional original binding signed by Henri Mercher. It is enriched by an autograph letter signed by the bookbinder, dated 14 December 1967, in which he gives a precise description of the design and production of this work: "[......] I never use letters to decorate bindings; but with this poem and its presentation, in which 'the woman of my life', this astonishing, perfect woman imagined by the poet, recurs over and over again like a leitmotif [...] I thought that this title should form the background to the obsessive feeling one experiences when striving to achieve a goal one knows to be impossible". Spine of dust jacket unstained, spine of book slightly faded, slight rubbing to slipcase, scattered moderate brown spots. Provenance: Georges Blaizot.