History of the Andover Bookstore
Newman’s store, 1809–1832
In 1809 Mark Newman resigned as principal of Phillips Academy to become bookseller to the Academy. His bookstore was located on the first floor of The Andover Theological Seminary. Then in 1813, Dr. Eliphant Pearson moved an existing printing press to the second floor of Newman’s building. From that time on, the two businesses evolved along parallel paths into The Andover Press and The Andover Bookstore.
Timothy Flagg and Abraham J. Gould operated the press from 1813 to 1832. They developed a valued reputation as printers and possessed the first fonts of Greek and Hebrew type in America. From 1831 to the late 1860’s the press and the bookstore was located on the first floor of the Brick House, which stood where the Memorial Gateway to the West Quadrant now stands. With the death of Timothy Flagg in 1831, Mark H. Newman, son of the original owner, took over.
Students buying books, 1963
A group of prominent businessmen purchased the press and the bookstore from Draper in 1887, and John Cole was appointed treasurer and business manager. Here Cole started publication of The Andover Townsman.
The press moved to the corner of Main and Chestnut Streets in 1906, where the bookstore was housed in the front part of the first floor. John N. Cole died in 1922 and was succeeded by his son, Philip P. Cole.
Cole’s ownership continued until 1960, when Jerome Cross purchased the Andover Bookstore and the Andover Press ceased operation. Cross used this vacated space to expand his line of paperback and hardcover books. The Crosses moved the bookstore to its present location in Olde Andover Village in the spring of 1963, renovating an old barn to include a balcony and a working fireplace. The store continued to be the sole provider of textbooks to Phillips Academy students.
In 1992, Robert Hugo a Marblehead bookseller with more than thirty years’ experience, purchased The Andover Bookstore, and the tradition of being bookseller to the Academy as well as a unique and personal bookstore for Andover and the North Shore continues.
Store interior, 1963
