William Herschel discovered NGC 895 = H II-438 = h219 on 10 Sep 1785 (sweep 436) and commented "pB, pL, irr figure, mbM." On 5 Oct 1785 (sweep 456), he noted "F, vL, irr figure, r, unequally bright." The northwest spiral arm (discovered at Birr Castle) is catalogued separately as NGC 894. See historical notes on NGC 894.

400/500mm - 17.5" (8/31/86): fairly bright, large, broadly concentrated halo, diffuse halo. A mag 14 star is off the following edge, 2.0' ENE from the center and a mag 12 star is 4.7' S.

Notes by Steve Gottlieb