Ludicrously elongated ascenders characterize this font, taken from an eighth century parchment. One wonders what things may have been written down in this hand. While clearly legible, this font is best used as a headline or accent face.WF Astaroth View Character Set Try it!
Parallel to the development of book hands, the chancellories and scriptoria of France developed a handwriting that was easy to write and well adapted to the needs of a growing world trade. The best features of several handwriting styles were combined, the resulting mix was known as Bastarda. Together with the printed Gothic Textura, it formed the basis of the later German Fraktur typefaces.WF Bastarda View Character Set Try it!
Illuminated manuscripts of the 10th century furnished this odd set of capitals, which appear to be bizarre ink blotches more than anything else. Yet this was someone’s artful handwriting a thousand years ago. We recommend this font for headlines.WF Batwynge View Character Set Try it!
Here we have a gnarled and twisted hand that was used on an actual spell, which which was found tucked under the beams of a 16th century house in southern Germany. The incantation was wrapped around a fossil belemnite (also known as a “thunderbolt”) Evidently this protected the house from getting hit by lightning. There are brown stains on the ancient parchment, which could be blood.WF Gnomos View Character Set Try it!
One of the famous monastic hands of France, we have seen several documents that bear tight lines of this beautiful, regular but strangely illegible writing. This is a good text face, although it certainly takes some getting used to.WF Luxeuil View Character Set Try it!
What other font conveys the notion of “Capital” letters better than this – it is clearly one of the most beautiful fonts we have seen. Originally this ceremonial hand was used on official documents.WF Orgeuil View Character Set Try it!
Runic writing was not an everyday affair, it was reserved for sacred or otherwise important purposes, and its practitioners were most likely learned or holy men. Because each rune has not only a sound value, but also a name (such as “aurochs” “hail” and “god”), a runic message can bear a double meaning, which makes the deciphering of runic inscriptions more of an interpretation than a translation.WF Runor View Character Set Try it!
While in Europe the witch craze was already dying down, in Salem, Massachusetts it just got started. Based on “spectral evidence” and hearsay, 19 people were convicted and executed as witches. When the fanatic prosecutors finally accused the wife of the Governor, they had gone too far – the legislature took decided measures and the witch hysteria died down almost as quickly as it had arisen. “Salem 1692” is based on the hands used in the official court records of the time.WF Salem 1692 View Character Set Try it!
Alchemy is much more than trying to turn lead into gold - it is the study of all things, and as such, there are alchemical treatises on a great variety of subjects, from botany and zoology to philosophy and chemistry. Our font gives you the alchemic chart of elements, so that you, too, may discover the philospher’s stone. Please let us know when you do.WF Alchemy Symbols View Character Set Try it!
Throughout the centuries, the movements of the heavens were supposed to influence our fate. Working out horoscopes was in fact the bread-and-butter occupation of such great astronomers as Kepler, Galilei and Kopernikus. An elaborate system of symbols was created to aid in the description of the stars and their movements. If you wish to try your hand at a astrology, you’ll need our Astrological Symbols font.WF Astrological Symbols View Character Set Try it!