I was delving into the history of mnemonic techniques earlier hunting down some of the origins of the major system and ran across a reference to Reventlow from the late-1800s. He apparently borrowed much of his work from Aime Paris, but helped to popularize a variation of the method in Germany and Prague.
A sketch with some great references (in German) was already hiding on Wikipedia:
Bonus points for anyone who can track down a digital edition of his 1843 textbook.