Complete issue of The Connecticut Courant from March 12, 1853, four pages, 20.25 x 26.75, with the front page featuring articles on the recent inauguration of President Franklin Pierce, who became the 14th president of the United States on March 4, 1853, making him the youngest man to be elected president to that point. The first article details the preliminary events and procedures of the inauguration, and the second article contains the full text of “Gen. Pierce’s Inaugural Address,” which witnessed Pierce becoming the first president to deliver his inaugural address from memory. It begins: “It is a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know the personal regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne to a position so suitable for others rather than desirable for myself. The circumstances under which I have been called for a limited period to preside over the destinies of the Republic fill me with a profound sense of responsibility, but with nothing like shrinking apprehension. I repair to the post assigned me not as to one sought, but in obedience to the unsolicited expression of your will, answerable only for a fearless, faithful, and diligent exercise of my best powers.” In very good to fine condition, with wear to edges, and the fragile spine nearly completely separated.
