William Herschel discovered NGC 4157 = H I-208 = h1114 on 9 Mar 1788 (sweep 816) and recorded "F, mE from sp to nf, nearer the parallel, about 3' l and 3/4' broad." JH made the single observation "B; vmE; vglbM; 4' long." and d'Arrest measured the position twice.

200/250mm - 8" (3/28/81): faint, very elongated WSW-ENE, bright core. A mag 8 star is close NW.

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/2/92): bright, moderately large, edge-on 7:1 WSW-ENE, 5.0'x0.7', elongated bright core, extensions taper at ends. Located 4.3' SE of mag 8.0 SAO 28277. Two mag 10/10.5 stars oriented N-S are 3.8' SW and 5.1' SW and a mag 11 star lies 4.9' NE. This is a striking galaxy with several bright stars near adding to the view. Member of the M109 (NGC 3992) group = LGG 258.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb