William Herschel discovered NGC 4467 on 23 Jan 1784 (early sweep 105) and noted "Nebula. Preceding [M49], and not far from its parallel is a nebulous star or small nebula. His position was very uncertain and only roughly found, but the description clearly applies to NGC 4467 and the nearby star. On 28 Dec 1785, he observed what he assumed was the same object (internal discovery #44), but the second observation probably refers to H. II 18 = NGC 4466. As a result, NGC 4467 wasn't assigned an H-designation.

Otto Struve independently discovered NGC 4467 on 28 Apr 1851 with the 15-inch Merz refractor at the Pulkovo Observatory while observing[M49. He wrote, "Near this last star [preceding[M49 by 17 seconds of time] , there is still another smaller nebula at a distance of 2 to 3 seconds, located on the straight line joining the star with the main nebula." Struve is credited with the discovery in the NGC. d'Arrest measured an accurate position (3 nights) and credited Struve with the discovery. The IC2 Notes mention Schwassmann couldn't find NGC 4467 on a Heidelberg plate. The RNGC incorrectly equates this number with NGC 4465.

400/500mm - 17.5" (4/18/87): very faint, very small, almost round. Located 6' W of M49! A mag 12.5 star is just off the west edge 34" from the center.

900/1200mm - 48" (5/15/12): moderately bright, small, slightly elongated, 24"x20", small bright core. A mag 12.8 star is 35" W. Located 5.2' W of the center of M49. NGC 4465 lies 2.6' NW.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb