Lewis Swift discovered NGC 1238 = Sw. V-52 on 1 Nov 1886 with his 16" refractor, recording "vF; pS; R; sp of [NGC 1247]. His RA as 9 seconds too large east. Jermain Porter measured an accurate micrometric position in 1906 at the Cincinnati Observatory.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/28/94): fairly faint, small, round, very small bright core. Contains a faint stellar nucleus or possibly a faint star is superimposed. Forms the west vertex of an obtuse isosceles triangle with a mag 13 star 2.4' SE and a mag 14 star 2.3' NNE of center. IC 1897, just 3.3' SW, appeared faint, small, round, weak concentration. A mag 13 star is 1.5' S.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb