The letters of William Halsted and Anton von Eiselsberg: a very special friendship

I. M. Rutkow

William Halsted and Anton von Eiselsberg enjoyed an extended friendship. It was marked by a fairly continuous correspondence during a period of 18 years. Their letters were recently found in the Halsted Papers in the archives collection of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, where they had remained undisturbed for over 60 years. Written in English, this is the first time they have ever been published. They are of historical interest in that they represent the only known correspondence between Halsted and a major figure of the Billroth school of surgery. Their content provides a vivid insight into a close personal relationship that endured the tragedies and hardships of World War I.