To better understand the meaning of the Wandering Jew as one of the characters of
Potocki’s seminal novel Manuscript found in Saragossa it is necessary to be aware of
the huge progress Potocki’s studies have done during the last twenty years. The critical edition of the three redactions of the novel has shown that the Wandering Jew
has eventually disappeared from the last version of 1810. The question how it is so
must remain open since no information from the author has survived. After reporting the state of research, the author suggests some more possible reasons and tries to
establish the role of this being one of the first literary appearances of the Wandering
Jew in literature in the context of the contemporary debate about the Egyptian origin of Jewish laws. Oddly enough, Potocki has chosen not to develop the story of
the Wandering Jew after his encounter with Jesus, but to recreate the vicissitudes of
his family until the third generation back. Also noteworthy is the fact that he is a
Hellenising Jew from Alexandria. In fact, the recourse to Egypt in the 18th century
is always an argument for natural religion. Further, the article explores possible connections with contemporary German spinozism and freemasonry.
