William Herschel discovered NGC 217 = H II-480 = h48 on 28 Nov 1785 (sweep 479) and recorded "F, pL, lE, lbM." JH observed this galaxy on a single sweep and noted "not vF; S; gbM; 10-15"." Lewis Swift independently found the galaxy again on 9 Aug 1886 and reported it in list IV-4. His position was 15 sec of RA east of MCG -02-02-085 = PGC 2482, a similar offset as other objects he observed that night.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/3/88): moderately bright, fairly small. This is a pretty edge-on 4:1 WNW-ESE with a small bright core and stellar nucleus.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb