The name of this mathematical card-placement principle was given it by Edward Marlo, who may have believed he invented the principle itself and is frequently credited with it. However, numerous applications of the principle were documented prior Marlo's first publishing applications in The New Phoenix, No. 329, Aug. 1955, p. 126.
The roots of the idea go back to the 1700s; see Smith Myth (Transposed Cards Principle).
A good source for the modern history of the Automatic Placement can be found in The Collected Works of Alex Elmsley, Volume II, 1994, p. 349.