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HISTORY OF
WATKINS BOOKS
Watkins are the oldest speciality bookseller of books dealing
with the Occult & the Mystical. Watkins have always specialised
in literature about mind body & spirit, new age, metaphysics and
related subjects.
Watkins customers visit from across the world because of the
breadth of the material they stock, and the service and
knowledge that staff offer.
John Watkins opened his first second-hand bookshop in the centre
of Victorian London in the 1890’s. The area was a Mecca for
booklovers as this was the neighbourhood where booksellers
congregated. Most of these dealers specialised in one or two
subjects only. By the turn of the twentieth century Watkins had
moved his business to their present site.
Watkins famous Egyptian logo that depicts the ancient God of
learning, writing, science and magic was introduced by the
founder way back then. The figure of an ancient Egyptian with a
bird like head has become the image of Watkins Books.
Over the 20th Century, the ownership of Watkins has changed
hands several times. The founder, who has passed the business to
his son, died in 1947 and his son whilst developing the business
between the two World Wars, found himself commissioned into the
Intelligence Service for the duration. Returning to the business
after the war, changes were taking place not only in the
thinking and philosophy of the younger generations, but in the
area of Charing Cross itself. New owners developed the business
during the 1960’s , renovating the premises but essentially
keeping the business as it was.
New pressures of increased costs meant that by the 1980’s, once
more new owners extended the premises, computerised the stock
and altogether began a process of modernisation. By the
beginning of the new century air conditioning, updated computers
and new carpeting and a modern re-branding of the company has
bought a Victorian institution into a very modern world.
Watkins Books, 19 Cecil Court, Charing Cross Road, London, WC2N
4EZ
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