This book, originally entitled An Adventure Among the Rosicrucians, was first published anonymously under the pseudonym "A Student of Occultism" in 1887, but with copyright in the name of Franz Hartmann to protect its text. In 1910, Hartmann republished the story with a new title: With the Adepts. However, in his preface, he mentioned that it "has been gathered from notes handed to me by a friend, a writer of considerable repute." That friend and writer was H. P. Blavatsky.