OCTAVIUS BROOKS FROTHINGHAM (26 November 1822-27 November 1895) was a religious and literary figure who reached his audience through the pulpit, press, published sermons, and biographies of leading figures. Most scholars today know him only as the author of Transcendentalism in New England . As the leader of a group of religious radicals, he was the foremost advocate of anti-Christian Unitarianism and the first president of the Free Religious Association (1867-1878). He was probably the most intellectual and eloquent spokesman of his generation for interpreting German Biblical criticism and the Religion of Humanity. Born in Boston of a Unitarian family, he grew up in the Brahmin atmosphere of genteel ideas and affluence. His father, Nathaniel Langdon Frothingham, was minister of the influential First Church of Boston. His maternal grandfather was the wealthy Peter Chardon Brooks, and Henry Adams was his first cousin. His childhood and youth included the Boston Latin School...