I have a lot of fonts installed on my PC, many of them quite similar. When
I'm looking for a particular appearance, it would be useful to be able to say
"show me only script fonts" (or sans serif, or ...).

It would also be valuable to be able to hand pick (and freeze) the list of
'recently used' fonts. I guess it would then be a 'favorite fonts' list, not
recently used.

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It would also be valuable to be able to hand pick (and freeze) the list of
'recently used' fonts. I guess it would then be a 'favorite fonts' list, not
recently used.

Have you tried WordToys (www.wordtoys.com) ?
It has exactly what you want.