Ten Days in a Mad-House - Nellie Bly

Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly brings together the reporter’s landmark first-hand writing from her time inside Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum in New York City. This paperback reprint is based on the Ian L. Munro, New York, 1887 edition and includes 17 period illustrations from the original publication.

Key details

• Author: Nellie Bly
• Subtitle: A Story of the Intrepid Reporter
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 96
• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc
• Publication date: 31 October 2019
• ISBN: 9780486835440

Synopsis

At 23, Nellie Bly feigned dementia to investigate the treatment of patients at Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum, at a time when investigative reporting was rare and women journalists rarer still. Her subsequent articles caused a sensation, detailing psychological and physical mistreatment, and highlighting how many inmates were not mentally ill but instead recent immigrants and other impoverished people without social support.

The reporting led directly to increased funding and improvements in the institution’s management, and it shocked readers into a wider re-examination of asylum conditions and practices. This edition also notes Bly’s wider career, including reporting on inequalities faced by women, work as a foreign correspondent in Mexico, and her later journey around the world inspired by Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days.

Rackhams Reference : C7D76CFT54