Truman Safford discovered NGC 591 = Sf 61 on 10 Oct 1866 with the 18.5" refractor at the Dearborn Observatory and described as "pF, S, R, bM." Safford was not credited in the NGC as Dreyer missed his discovery list published in 1887, just prior to the NGC. Lewis Swift independently found the galaxy again on 30 Nov 1885, recorded it in list III-7, and Dreyer credited Swift with the discovery in the NGC. Swift's position is 13 sec off in RA from UGC 1111 = PGC 5800.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/23/89): faint, small, oval NW-SE, even surface brightness. A mag 14.5 star is 0.8' N and a faint mag 15.5 star 1.5' WNW. Located 6.6' NW of 7.3 SAO 54785.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb