William Herschel discovered NGC 3524 = H III-23 = h819 on 11 Mar 1784 (sweep 164) and recorded "vF, vS. I was not quite assured of it till I put on 240x. Very near it to the north are two smalls stars in a line with it." John Herschel made three observations, recording on 23 Mar 1830 (sweep 242), "vF; R; bM; has 2 stars exactly in a line with centre, on 11-12 m, the other 13-14 m."

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/1/95): moderately bright, elongated 5:2 SSW-NNE, 1.5'x0.6'. Fairly sharp concentration with a well-defined 15" bright core and an occasional stellar nucleus. A mag 11.5 star lies 0.9' NNW and a mag 13 star 2.0' NNW of center.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb