Rezinnaise

life:

The 1948 photoessay “Country Doctor,” featuring pictures by the great Eugene Smith, is celebrated as one of the 20th century’s greatest feats of photojournalism. But not even LIFE magazine could publish every single picture that Smith shot during the several weeks he spent chronicling the everyday triumphs and tragedies of Dr. Ernest Ceriani’s practice in rural Colorado.

Here, LIFE.com presents previously unpublished photos from that extraordinary assignment.