William Herschel discovered NGC 4017 = H II-369 = h1043 on 11 Apr 1785 (sweep 396) and noted "F, E, pL. The following part the brightest." CH's reduction matches this barred spiral. JH made three observations, although all positions are rough.

Six observations were made at Birr Castle. On 30 Mar 1854, R.J. Mitchell noted "F, spiral? Another vF neb [NGC 4016] about 5' np or nearly north." The following spring he commented "Query, shaped like an "S"? Its light is certainly patchy and the neb is lE nearly pf. np this object is another F, R neb with stellar centre." Finally on 16 Apr 1855, he wrote "my previous conjectoure as to shape is rather confirmed by Mr. Johnstone Stoney [on a visit between professorial duties], who saw the p branch turned off sharply to the south, while the f bend is not so sharp, but this latter branch reacher farther round and is rather fainter."

CGCG mislabels NGC 4017 as[NGC 4016.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/9/99): fairly faint, elongated 3:2 WSW-ENE, 1.2'x0.8', weak concentration [face-on SBc spiral]. Forms a pair with NGC 4016 6' NW.

900/1200mm - 48" (4/20/17): at 488x; beautiful 2-armed spiral with a very distinctive "S" shape. Contains a bright, elongated core or bar oriented E-W, though it was not as narrow as a typical bar. It brightened somewhat in the center to a rounder nucleus. Two very easy, graceful spiral arms were visible; the eastern arm is a bit brighter and knotty (HII regions) near its root on the southeast side of the core. It rotates clockwise, bending north on the east side of the galaxy and then curls towards to the west, ending nearly due north of the core. The western arm was also easily seen as an extension south-southeast, while tapering and fading to the south of the core. Forms a striking pair with NGC 4016 6' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb