"nearly 90% of the world was illiterate" I've never believed statistics like this. Humans have a remarkable ability to grasp symbols.
Try to learn a script you don't know without any kind of instruction whatsoever. Maybe you'd have some chance with the Latin alphabet, but most writing systems are more complex than it, some far more complex. I would bet no one could learn Chinese writing for example without instruction, even if they knew spoken Mandarin to perfection.