Alejandro Tapia y Rivera (1826-1882) was a Puerto Rican poet, dramaturg, essayist and writer. Tapia is considered to be the father of Puerto Rican literature and as the person who has contributed the most to the cultural advancement of Puerto Rico's literature. In addition to his writing, he was also a abolitionist and a women's rights advocate. One of his most important works was his play, La Cuarterona, the tragic love story of Carlos, a young Cuban who falls in love with Julia, a childhood friend, but racial, class, and status divisions keep them apart, since he is from a white land-owning family and she is the daughter of a slave. This first translation with a critical introduction and an exhaustive bibliography on Tapia, is a useful contribution to the study of drama, African slavery and its abolition, Hispanic literature and culture, Puerto Rican studies, women's studies, colonial and post-colonial studies, human rights, and the history of the Atlantic World.