During the Victorian era, the intelligentsia, rich and
fashionable of London were fascinated by mysticism and spirituality. In this era
of excitement, one of the leading lights of the day, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky,
encouraged her friend, John Watkins to open the first ever specialist esoteric
bookshop. It bears the ‘Watkins’ name to this
day.
Watkins is situated in the dignified elegance of Cecil Court, off Charing Cross Road, London. The shop’s logo depicts Thoth, Egyptian God of Wisdom in the act of writing with pen and paper. The store stocks the UK’s widest selection of esoteric information in 60,000 book titles, cards, CD’s, DVDs, talismans, artefacts and other interesting items. In its early years, customers included W B Yeats, Aleister Crowley, G R S Mead, Carl Jung, Aldous Huxley, Dion Fortune and the Society of the Inner Light, MacGregor Mathers and members of The Golden Dawn.
