The Nineteenth-Century Asylum Periodical

Unearthing primary sources from a large transatlantic archive, this first book-length study of asylum periodicals in the nineteenth century traces the origins and early spread of periodical publishing in mental institutions in Britain, the United States, and the rest of the world. It connects the rise of asylum periodicals with developments in publishing, literary culture, and the treatment of madness, illuminating the social and print networks that supported their spread. Examining the complicated relationships involved in asylum publishing, Mila Daskalova highlights the role of print in self-expression, community building and identity formation. It shows that patients employed these publications to navigate their institutional reality and to interact with each other and the world. Rather than powerless recipients of care or abuse, periodical contributors participated actively in their treatment and cultural and social life within and beyond the institutions. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

• Applies insights from book history and literary studies to show how the printing press and periodicals served marginalised communities and the medical profession
• Draws on new primary sources from a transatlantic archive to identify and analyse titles from institutions in Britain, the United States, British Guiana, Spain, Canada and Argentina
• Interrogates the marginalisation and victimisation of mental patients by situating asylum periodicals and their producers in literary culture and publishing networks within and beyond institutions