José Hernández (1834-1886) was an Argentine journalist, poet, and politician. He's best known for his poem Martín Fierro.
"Martín Fierro" is an epic poem, published in two parts ("El gaucho Martín Fierro", 1872; "La vuelta de Martín Fierro", 1879). It tells the story, mainly in first person, of Martín Fierro, a gaucho (South-American "cowboy"), how he was drafted to defend the border and abused by the authorities, then he deserts and becomes an outlaw. It is written in the style of the Argentine rural ballads, and by its content it is clear that it is supposed to be sung. "Martín Fierro" is one of the touchstones of Argentine literature, and a motive of pride for the country.
A word of caution for Spanish learners: the text contains many dialect words, and the spelling is often altered to reflect the speech of the gauchos, so it's probably not an easy read.
I've included the only versions of the original illustrations I could find. If anyone can find better quality scans I'd be grateful.
All feedback is welcome.
EDIT (v. 1.1): Fixed illustrator's metadata
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