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.

In 1887, an ambitious journalist named Nellie Bly went on an undercover assignment to disclose the mistreatment of women at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. The story created shockwaves throughout the country and caused reform in mental hospitals. It also launched Bly’s career. Bly recounts her experience in this book. This book is annotated with a short biography on Nellie Bly.

Nelly Bly, posing as a mentally disturbed woman, went undercover to investigate the deplorable conditions of insane asylums. Her memoirs of her ten day stay at Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum forever changed the way the world looks at treatment and housing of the insane

Ten Days in A Mad-House, Was Written By Nellie Bly in 1887, after she lived, undercover, at a women's insane asylum at Blackwell's Island in 1887 for ten days. This was an assignment given to her by Joseph Pulitzer. The living conditions and treatment of the Patients were Horrible. Bly Wrote: "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." This Edition of Ten Days in A Mad-House Is Illustrated and Annotated with a Brief History of Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum, With Additional Pictures, Word Definitions and Blank Pages for Notes. Additionally, Nellie Bly's following Articles Are Included in this Edition - "Nellie Bly In Jail," "In the Greatest New York Tenement", and "In Trinity's Tenements."

In 1887, reporter Nellie Bly was admitted to the Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum in order to do undercover reporting on the conditions there, as part of the assignment given to her by Joseph Pulitzer at the New York World. The resulting reports were published later that year in a book, Ten days in a mad-house, and influenced substantial changes, followed by the closure of the asylum.

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. She then investigated the reports of brutality and neglect at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. 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.