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(Left) Dr. William Stewart Halsted, 1922 (Right) Medical Representation of a Radical Mastectomy, 1924

Montage of two images. On the left is a black and white photograph of an elderly man with glasses in profile. He is seated and wearing a three-piece suit. On the right is a black and white drawing depicting a surgical operation on a naked upper body. The right breast is being cut by scissors and a scalpel to show the procedure of a complete mastectomy. The rest of the body and face are covered with sheets.

(Left) National Library of Medicine – Images from the History of Medicine, 1922. (Right) Surgical Papers of William Stewart Halsted, 1924.

(Left) Dr. William Stewart Halsted (1852–1922) is a surgeon who pioneered surgical asepsis and anesthesia. In 1894, he developed a radical mastectomy procedure to treat breast cancer. This procedure would become standard practice for treating breast cancer, but also stomach, rectal and uterine cancer.

(Right) Sketch from Dr. Halsted’s surgical work detailing the extent of a radical mastectomy.