General reference literature on the Martinist Order consistently documents its lineage from Louis Claude de Saint Martin's eighteenth century theurgical Christian mysticism, published under his own pen name, the Unknown Philosopher, material that predates the order's own late nineteenth century founding by roughly a century and remains publicly available in French esoteric scholarship.
Associate's position as the founding degree is documented in general accounts of Papus's, that is Gerard Encausse's, organizational work, which describe the order's original three degree structure, Associate, Initiate and Superior Unknown, as the published baseline every later Martinist body's expansions built on.
Because Saint Martin's own writing, and the earlier theurgic tradition of Martinez de Pasqually that shaped his formation, remain published and studied material in their own right, the order's inspiration is public in a way its own internal degree content is not, a distinction general Martinist scholarship maintains consistently.
General reference works on French esoteric history place Papus's founding of the modern order within a wider late nineteenth century revival of interest in eighteenth century theurgic and mystical currents, a documented context rather than an isolated act of institution building.