John Herschel discovered NGC 1740 = h342 on 11 Feb 1830 (sweep 233) and wrote, "eF; S; 4"; has a * 12m N.f." His position is just off the east side of MCG -01-13-046 = PGC 16589, although the star is southwest.

While searching for NGC 1788 on 28 Dec 1885 with the Great Melbourne Telescope, Baracchi found this galaxy instead (based on his sketch) and questioned if it was GC 1005 NGC 1788). He called it "vF; vS; R; gvlbM; ill defined."

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/23/89): fairly faint, small, oval SW-NE, small bright core. A mag 12 star is at the SW edge 0.5' from center. NGC 1753 lies 10' ESE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb