The logic I've always heard is "furthest wheel from the master cylinder
first."  (After the master cylinder itself.)    I guess this might mean
a mirror image of our procedure when dealing with home-market cars from
right-hand-drive countries.

As you aptly mention, the shop manual supersedes conventional wisdom.
Speaking generically without regard to any particular make/model/year,
it should especially be consulted with regard to antilock systems, just
to see if they have managed to complicate even this fairly simple task.

The original poster is probably well aware of this, but it seems worth
mentioning anyway:   after putting it all back together he should
start the engine in park or neutral,  verify a normal pedal feel, and
make those first few stops from low speed under the most forgiving
conditions available. That "Earl said it's sorta like steppin' on a
plum"  feeling is deeply ingrained in muscle memory, as it probably is
for a lot of us, and I'm glad I went through this embarrassment in the
privacy of my own driveway before assaulting the public roads!

I'd further recommend the Mityvac hand vacuum pump
(http://www.mityvac.com) or something of that nature to the home
mechanic, though there are various pet procedures for solo
brake-bleeding  and some of them are cheaper.   Maybe the tube-and-jar
method works if you're more coordinated than me or something.  It comes
with a thick booklet about other ways  the ability to pull a bit of
vacuum on demand can be useful, mostly underhood.  

Cheers,
--Joe