The book world rarely sees a new book with such an unusual history as “Chickens, Gin, and a Maine Friendship: The Correspondence of E. B. White and Edmund Ware Smith,” published by Down East Books in 2020.

New work by a famous, long-deceased writer is always big news. But two such writers in the same book? This book comprises correspondence between White and Smith during the 1950s and 1960s, when they both had residences in their beloved Maine. The letters lay forgotten in a Damariscotta bank vault for nearly four decades and were discovered by a staff member at Skidompha Public Library, who realized immediately that they should be published.

E. B. White (1899–1985) was an enormously popular writer and author, a longtime contributor to “The New Yorker” and other publications, perhaps best known to the public for his children’s book “Charlotte’s Web.” Edmund Ware Smith (1900–1967) was an avid outdoorsman, famous for his raucously funny, fictionalized accounts of his adventures in the North Woods. The two men met when White wrote essays for “The Ford Times,” a publication of Ford Motor Company edited by Smith.

When the letters were exchanged, White and his wife, Katharine, lived in Brooklin; Smith and his wife, Mary, had a place in Damariscotta. The two men shared, besides their appreciation for each other’s wit and good writing, a love of Maine and the outdoors, especially songbirds; a passion for (as the book title suggests) raising chickens; and the habit of enjoying an adult beverage at the end of a busy day.

The letters addressed to “Whitey” (or sometimes “Andy,” White’s nickname) and “Smitty,” abound with humor, incisive and insightful writing, details of their lives, good-natured ribbing, and much commentary, with some friendly rivalry about how to raise chickens. White, who had begun raising chickens as a child, was proud of his efficient chicken house and equipment, which he had designed and built. He offered detailed hen house-building advice to Smith, a newcomer to the art, and also made some equipment for him. They exchanged chicken stories.

In one letter, White writes, “The deluxe non-fouling non-frost-proof waterer that I built for you last fall from almost-clear pine still awaits delivery…. I will build you a Sensible Feeder and you can substitute it for the thing I presume you now have in there, from which the Wirthmore mash sifts steadily out onto the floor under the ceaseless billing of the birds….”

Smith responds, referring to the awaited Sensible Feeder, “[We] are now using one of those metal things—a trough—and the girls whip their mash all over hell…. The Flock consults the White Non-Self-Refilling Shell & Grit Feeder from time to time and they occasionally leave droppings in it which we carefully pluck out for our fertilizer pile, following our theory that one good turd deserves another.”

But it’s not all about chickens. They exchange views on travel, the business of writing, the use of Gulf Pride oil cans for sap buckets, health challenges, summer visitors, gardens, stuck zippers, favorite books, and much more.

The correspondence begins in 1956 and ends with Smith’s death in 1967. Smith had saved White’s letters, as well as copies of his own. When Smith’s wife Mary died in 1980, the correspondence was donated to Skidompha Library, with White’s permission. Not sure what to do with the letters, but aware of their importance, the library’s board tucked them into an archive-quality box and placed them in a vault at a local bank. Over time, the correspondence was forgotten.

Nearly 40 years later, in 2016, the bank asked the library to remove its several boxes of old files from the vault. At the library, a staff member discovered the letters and realized their significance. Library staff and volunteers transcribed and edited the letters, with guidance from Martha White, E. B. White’s granddaughter; a writer and editor on the coast of Maine, who wrote an introduction for the book. Besides the correspondence, the book reprints four essays by the two writers, including “The Hen: An Appreciation” by White, and “The Outermost Henhouse” by Smith.

Down East Books was chosen to publish “Chickens, Gin & a Maine Friendship.” Sales of the book, available at bookstores and online, benefit the Skidompha Public Library in Damariscotta.