Lewis Swift discovered NGC 6464 = Sw. I-74 on 18 Sep 1884 and recorded "eeeF; R; pS; ee diff.; south of 4 stars in form of a square." His position is 1.2' too far north and his description of the four stars to the north matches the sky.

400/500mm - 17.5" (7/27/92): very faint, very small, round, low even surface brightness. Preceded by an elongated group of 10 stars mag 14-15. A distinctive trapezoid of four mag 11 stars with bases oriented N-S lies between 2' and 6' N. The galaxy is collinear with the shorter east base and is located 3' further south.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb