A Gallery of Treasures in Mystic

In college, Bryan Murphy remembers stopping at old bookstores and sifting through the dusty bins for volumes he might want. He tries to keep a bit of that flavor in his shop now, in downtown Mystic.

“I think it’s something that’s missing from small town America,” Murphy says. “The old print shop.”

Murphy bought Trade Winds Gallery on West Main Street seven years ago from Tom Aalund, who opened the store in 1974. Aalund is in his early 80s, but still covers the store once a week.

The shop has three areas of business: fine art, mostly by established, local artists, custom framing and original antique maps and prints.

Among the old prints: An 1881 hand-colored map of New England, a bird’s eye view of Long Island Sound from 1911, and a map of Mystic from 1868.

“It’s kind of a constant treasure hunt,” Murphy says of his search for work. He buys from a network of dealers and private individuals, and looks at auctions and the Internet.

His favorite old map at the moment is an original areal view of Mystic from 1912.

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Murphy formerly worked as general manager of a book binding company in Brooklyn, N.Y., that went out of business after Sept. 11.

After that, he took a job with a company that sold wholesale picture frame moldings and fabrics. He stayed about two years, and discovered he had a passion for framing, he said. Then saw the Mystic business for sale in a trade magazine in 2005.

Today he frames everything himself, adding a bit of artistry to the work. For example, when he slices a matte to frame, he might color the beveled white edge with gold, so it looks better against the yellowed paper.

“We deal obviously, with valuable antique paper every day,” he says. “There is a science and proper way to handle these works for future preservation.”

He has a core of local clients that support the store and are always looking for something interesting. But many from outside walk in, too.

Paintings of boats, downtown streets and birds hang on the walls near a framed print from Harper’s Weekly in 1862, of a Civil War Steam Ship built in Mystic.

 “One thing that I love about this town is we retain down here, some very distinctive mom-and-pop, interesting, high quality shops,” Murphy says. “That’s very special.”