Author's note

Varah, David Rakowski's free gothic initials font from 1990, treats the caps like illuminated manuscript panels with a stern medieval rhythm. Each letter sits inside a dark rectangular frame, while pointed arches, petal shapes, and small rosette-like details repeat across the set so the font reads more like carved ornament than plain lettering.

It works well for book covers, poster titles, band marks, chapter openers, and monograms where a single letter or short word can carry the mood. As a free font, Varah feels most at home in brief display settings, especially title cards and drop caps, because the enclosed letters and botanical tracery need room to show.

Tags

Character map

Please use the pulldown menu to view different character maps contained in this font.
Basic Latin - Character map

Basic font information

Copyright notice
VarahCaps f 1990 by David Rakowski. Alle Rechte Vorhalten.
Font family
Varah
Font subfamily
Regular
Unique subfamily identification
Altsys Fontographer 3.5 Varah Regular
Full font name
Varah Regular
Name table version
Altsys Fontographer 3.5 9/30/92
Postscript font name
VarahCaps

Extended font information

Platforms supported

PlatformEncoding
UnicodeUnicode 1.0 semantics
MacintoshRoman
MicrosoftUnicode BMP only

Font details

Created1992-09-30
Revision1
Glyph count99
Units per Em1000
Embedding rightsLicensed font (protected)
Family classOrnamentals
WeightMedium (normal)
WidthSemi-expanded
Mac styleBold
DirectionOnly strongly left to right glyphs + contains neutrals
Pattern natureRegular
PitchNot monospaced