William Herschel discovered NGC 3288 = H III-918 = h723 on 9 Apr 1793 (sweep 1039) and recorded "Two [along with III-917 = NGC 3286], both vF, pS, R, lbM." On 9 Feb 1831 (sweep 323), John Herschel noted "eF; S; R; vglbM; 12"." His position is within 1' of UGC 5752 = PGC 31446. WH may have observed this galaxy the previous night and recorded it as H. III-912 = NGC 3284, though that number may apply to brighter NGC 3288, which is 4' north.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/9/94): very faint, small, round, low even surface brightness. Located 3.7' WSW of a mag 10.5 star. Forms a pair with NGC 3286 3.9' NNW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb