Reddit mentions of Our Magic

Scott's tome is an interesting historical event unto itself, but I don't think it's that instructive in any greater capacity. Milbourne Christopher's history is good for breadth, but not as much for depth. Everything by Jim Steinmeyer is probably a good idea.

If you're writing about women in magic, some more detailed biographical work is probably in order. Bill Kalush's Houdini book doesn't say much about Bess, but I think that a lot can be learned by reading between the lines. It's also very informative about the "Golden Age" boys club and the feud between magicians and spiritualists.

http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Life-Houdini-Americas-Superhero/dp/0743272080/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313429451&sr=8-1

On the same subject, the David Abbott books by Todd Karr and Teller are amazing. Abbott's wife helped a lot with the act, and the first book gives a lot of details about the development of magic and spiritualism in the US:

http://miraclefactory.net/zenstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=75

The Karr/Teller Germain books are also good, but not as interesting with regard to women and apparently out of print.

Our Magic, by Maskelyne and Devant, is one of the most influential books ever written on the way that magicians see themselves. Like Scott it isn't a historical analysis or overview, it's a historical document. There will be a whole lot in here that will help you represent magicians convincingly. Lybrary.com has a cheap pdf version if you don't have a kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Magic-ebook/dp/B004Z8L26Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1313429822&sr=8-4

Houdin's instructional books and memoirs are also held in high regard by magicians, and also give a lot of information about their own particular historical context:

http://www.amazon.com/Conjurers-Confessions-M-Robert-Houdin/dp/1425017150/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1313429966&sr=1-1

I think a lot of knowledge about magic history still hasn't really been culled out of the books of tricks. In particular, the recent history (say 1940 to present) hasn't seen much analysis in print. If you want a historical view on that timespan, it's probably more efficient to consult a magician– or a few.

If you have specific questions feel free to message me and I'll give you an email; women and magic is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. If not, I think that most of the books mentioned previously and all of the ones I've linked are very good. In particular, the Karr/Teller volumes are incredibly valuable for the depth of historical knowledge that they contain. The Kalush book is a no-brainer because of how easy it is to get and how rigorously researched it is.

Hopefully that helps somewhat.

Read this and be depressed. But if you're just starting out, you should be glad to have actually read this first and won't be as despressed as some of us who read this after putting in effort for a while.

http://www.amazon.com/Our-Magic-Nevil-Maskelyne-ebook/dp/B004Z8L26Y

IIRC, should be royalty free by now. I think Conjuring Arts did offer them for free.

Also Expert Card Technique I think was free from Conjuring Arts for a while as well.