William Herschel discovered NGC 5374 = H II-889 = h1710 on 12 May 1793 (sweep 1043) and logged "pB, R, pL, just following a small star." JH made 4 observations and first recorded (sweep 154), "F; S; lE; vgbM; follows a * 4 sec [of RA]."

400/500mm - 17.5" (5/10/91): fairly faint, fairly small, slightly elongated E-W, weak concentration. A mag 10.5 star is 1.2' W. Located within a group of four mag 9 stars including mag 8.9 SAO 120193 6.3' SW, and mag 9 stars 5.6' NE and 5.8' WSW. The bright star field also includes several mag 11 stars. First in loose group of five galaxies with NGC 5387 14' ESE and NGC 5382 15' NE.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb