Meiji 26 Edition, Elementary School, Lifetime Textbook, Volume 1

Published in 1893, 132 years ago.
The setting of Rurouni Kenshin is Meiji 11 (1878), so I roughly understand it to be around that time.

It's in surprisingly good condition for something from this era.

This is a textbook from the now-defunct elementary school. I bought it at a used bookstore because I was curious about what was taught in the subject of "Moral Education" that was taught there.

After actually looking through it, what I found interesting was that I could surprisingly understand what was written. For example, the third image.

Heisuke was a child with a good memory, but his pride arose, he neglected his studies, and eventually failed the exam. Pride leads to loss.

And the fourth image.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Ono no Tōfū. Seeing a frog jump onto a willow branch, he realized the importance of perseverance, diligently practiced calligraphy, and became a famous calligrapher. If you don't give up, anything is possible.

That's it. If you'd like, please read the fifth image.
You should be able to read it.
There are some differences from modern notation, but
this book is a textbook used by first graders, and
the Japanese used is very basic.
Therefore, by comparing multiple pages and making inferences, you can surprisingly read it.

Aside from the content, reading about 10 of these textbooks, I think it's interesting that you might surprisingly master old expressions and kana usage, lol.