John Herschel discovered NGC 1696 = h2674 on 2 Nov 1834 and wrote "vF; E; vlbM" on his only observation. His position is off by 1.5' in dec.

600/800mm - 30" (11/6/10 - Coonabarabran, 264x): fairly faint, fairly small, round, 30" diameter. Bracketed by two stars; a mag 15 star 25" NW of center and a mag 15 star 38" SE of center. Located 19' SW of mag 6.8 HD 31532.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb