This principle is described in two unpublished manuscripts from similar time periods. The first appeared in Sloane 424, c. 1600s, p. 155 of the Pieper translation. The second in Asti Manuscript, c. 1700, p. 63 of the Pieper translation. These manuscripts were published in Gibecière, Vol. 5 No. 2, Summer 2010, p. 141-172, and Vol. 8 No. 1, Winter 2013, p. 29-234, respectively.
Later the principle, applied to a card prediction, appears in R.P.'s Ein Spiel Karten, 1853, p. 54 of the Pieper translation. Under the title “Correct Guess”, three likely cards are maneuvered, one on top of the deck, one on the bottom, and the third on the table. The correct one is displayed when the mental selection is named.