Guillaume Bigourdan discovered IC 2138 = Big. 384 = Sw. XI-83 on 16 Dec 1887. Lewis Swift independently found it again on 1 Dec 1897 and reported it as "eeF; S; R: 7m * close p; sf of [NGC] 1980." Swift correctly placed the bright star to the east in his 6th Lowe discovery list, though in both lists the nearby galaxy should read NGC 1979. Both Bigourdan and Swift are credited with the discovery in the IC.

Swift found this galaxy again on 14 Feb 1898, gave an accurate description for Sw. XI-84 (later IC 2137), but his position was 10' too far north. So, there were three "discoveries" of this galaxy with two IC designations.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/3/88): faint, small, oval 3:2 E-W, even surface brightness. Located 2' W of mag 8.5 SAO 170570. NGC 1979 lies 14' NNW.

600/800mm - 24" (1/1/19): at 260x; fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 E-W, ~45"x20", small slightly brighter nucleus. A mag 8.5 star (HD 37002) is 2' E. Located 14' SSE of NGC 1979.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb