Laurence Oliphant (1829-1888) was a British author, international traveller, diplomatist and mystic. Best known for his 1870 satirical novel Piccadilly, he spent a decade in later life under the influence of the spiritualist prophet Thomas Lake Harris. In 1851 he accompanied Jung Bahadur from Colombo to Nepal. He passed an agreeable time there, and saw enough that was new to enable him to write his first book, A Journey to Katmandu (1852). Oliphant was Lord Elgin's private secretary on his expedition to China and Japan. In 1861 he was appointed first secretary of the British legation in Japan under Consul General Sir Rutherford Alcock.