Ten Days In A Mad House A Graphic Adaptation

AN EISNER AWARD NOMINEE A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY “BEST NEW COMIC OF 2022 FOR ADULTS” Beautifully adapted and rendered through piercing illustrations by acclaimed creators Brad Ricca and Courtney Sieh, Nellie Bly’s complete, true-to-life 19th-century investigation of Blackwell Asylum captures a groundbreaking moment in history and reveals a haunting and timely glimpse at the starting point for conversations on mental health. “I said I could and I would. And I did.” While working for Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper in 1887, Nellie Bly began an undercover investigation into the local Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell Island. Intent on seeing what life was like on the inside, Bly fooled trained physicians into thinking she was insane—a task too easily achieved—and had herself committed. In her ten days at the asylum, Bly witnessed horrifying conditions: the food was inedible, the women were forced into labor for the staff, the nurses and doctors were cruel or indifferent, and many of the women held there had no mental disorder of any kind. Now adapted into graphic novel form by Brad​ Ricca and vividly rendered with beautiful and haunting illustrations by Courtney Sieh, Bly’s bold venture is given new life and meaning. Her fearless investigation into the living conditions at the Blackwell Asylum forever changed the field of journalism. A timely reminder to take notice of forgotten populations, Ten Days in a Mad-House warns us what happens when we look away.

♥♥Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly♥♥ Ten Days in a Mad-House by Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by American journalist Nellie Bly. It was initially published as a series of articles for the New York Nellie Bly. World; Bly later compiled the articles into a book, being published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. ♥♥Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly♥♥ The book was based on articles written while Bly was on an undercover assignment for the New York World, feigning insanity at a women's boarding house, so as to be involuntarily committed to an insane asylum. ♥♥Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly♥♥ She then investigated the reports of brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island (now called Roosevelt Island). ♥♥Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly♥♥ The book received acclaim from critics at the time. Accumulation of her reportage and the release of her content brought her fame and led to a grand jury investigation and financial increase in the Department of Public Charities and Corrections. ♥♥Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly♥♥

Ten Days In a Mad-House (1887) by Nellie Bly. Nellie Bly (1864–1922) was the pen name of American journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochrane. She was a ground-breaking reporter known for a record-breaking trip around the world in 72 days, in emulation of Jules Verne's fictional character Phileas Fogg, and an exposé in which she faked insanity to study a mental institution from within. She was a pioneer in her field, and launched a new kind of investigative journalism. Nellie Bly, whose given name was Elizabeth Jane Cochran, was a pio-neer of investigative journalism. She died in 1922. Of her many exposé assignments for Joseph Pulitzer's NEW YORK WORLD, her voluntary (and undercover) journey into the "lunatic asylum" on Blackwell's (now Roosevelt) Island is perhaps the most well known. In previous chapters of the series, she has (without much difficulty) fooled various doctors and authorities into deeming her insane and admitting her tothe asylum, which is located on an island just east of Manhattan. "SINCE my experiences in Blackwell's Island Insane Asylum were published in the World I have received hundreds of letters in regard to it. The edition containing my story long since ran out, and I have been prevailed upon to allow it to be published in book form, to satisfy the hundreds who are yet asking for copies."

Ten Days in a Mad-House is a book by newspaper reporter Nellie Bly. It was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World. Bly later compiled the articles into a book, which was published by Ian L. Munro in New York City in 1887. The book comprised Bly's reportage for the New York World while on an undercover assignment in which she feigned insanity at a women's boarding house, so as to be involuntarily committed to an insane asylum. She then investigated the reports of brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. The book's graphic depiction of conditions at the asylum caused a sensation which brought Bly lasting fame and prompted a grand jury to launch its own investigation with Bly assisting. The jury's report resulted in an $850,000 increase in the budget of the Department of Public Charities and Corrections.

On the 22d of September I was asked by the World if I could have myself committed to one of the asylums for the insane in New York, with a view to writing a plain and unvarnished narrative of the treatment of the patients therein and the methods of management, etc. Did I think I had the courage to go through such an ordeal as the mission would demand? Could I assume the characteristics of insanity to such a degree that I could pass the doctors, live for a week among the insane without the authorities there finding out that I was only a "chiel amang 'em takin' notes?" I said I believed I could. I had some faith in my own ability as an actress and thought I could assume insanity long enough to accomplish any mission intrusted to me. Could I pass a week in the insane ward at Blackwell's Island? I said I could and I would. And I did. - Taken from "Ten Days In A Mad-House" written by Nellie Bly

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Ten Days in a Mad-House; or, Nellie Bly's Experience on Blackwell's Island" (Feigning Insanity in Order to Reveal Asylum Horrors. The Trying Ordeal of the New York World's Girl Correspondent) by Nellie Bly. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

ON the 22d of September I was asked by the World if I could have myself committed to one of the asylums for the insane in New York, with a view to writing a plain and unvarnished narrative of the treatment of the patients therein and the methods of management, etc. Did I think I had the courage to go through such an ordeal as the mission would demand? Could I assume the characteristics of insanity to such a degree that I could pass the doctors, live for a week among the insane without the authorities there finding out that I was only a "chiel amang 'em takin' notes?" I said I believed I could. I had some faith in my own ability as an actress and thought I could assume insanity long enough to accomplish any mission intrusted to me. Could I pass a week in the insane ward at Blackwell's Island? I said I could and I would. And I did.

"The insane asylum on Blackwell's Island is a human rat-trap. It is easy to get in, but once there it is impossible to get out." Twenty-three-year-old journalist Nellie Bly, describing New York City's most notorious mental institution, wrote those words in 1887 after getting herself committed to the asylum. After her release she wrote a shocking expose called Ten Days in a Madhouse, launching her career as a world-famous investigative reporter and helping to improve conditions at mental institutions across the United States. Her story is just as remarkable today as it was shen she wrote it. Soon to be a major motion picture. Newly designed and typeset by Waking Lion Press.