The idea that memory can be improved is almost as old as the concept of memory itself. Most histories of memory have concentrated on attempts to improve memory through reference to the arts of memory or mnemonics. In this paper, I consider texts on memory improvement from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as examples of texts with a psychological content intended for non-specialist audiences. I highlight how many authors argued that readers should improve their memories by exploiting the natural laws of memory, as revealed by science, rather than resorting to what were portrayed as the artificial techniques of mnemonics. Authors advocating this approach also made repeated appeals to familiar moral imperatives revolving around exercise, training and discipline in ways that brought together natural law and free will. The justifications of their systems accommodated Victorian concerns over determinism, the education of the young, self-improvement, bodily health, and the spread of scientific naturalism. These texts promoted memory as a physical and psychological entity whose management was open to all. Examining them can inform our understanding of emerging notions of psychological expertise, the scope of the nascent psychological science beyond the academy, and the production of popular knowledge.