William Herschel discovered NGC 774 = H III-214 on 16 Oct 1784 (sweep 295) and logged "vF, stellar, verified with 240 power.". J.L.E. Dreyer, using Lord Rosse's 72" on 7 Oct 1874, recorded "F, stellar, not quite R but of somewhat irregular shape, probably vlE north-south or very nearly towards a *11m in Pos 333°, Dist 143.7 arcsec". The NGC dec is 1' S of UGC 1469 = PGC 7536.

400/500mm - 17.5" (12/4/93): fairly faint, small, almost round, 0.5' diameter, slight even concentration, no distinct core. Forms a triangle with two mag 12 stars 2.3' NNW and 3.5' NE. Located 12' ESE of a mag 9.5 star and 9' ENE of a mag 10 star.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb