Lists of non-stellar heavenly bodies – galaxies, clusters and nebulae–were common in Messier's time. Ptolemy compiled one of the earliest such lists in the second century AD. Tycho Brahe had published a list of six nebulae in 1601, as did Edmond Halley in 1715. Abbe Nicholas-Louis de la Caille (Lacaille) produced a tabulation of forty-two objects in the southern sky in 1755, and John Bode published seventy-five objects in 1777.

Perhaps no one was in a better position to compile such a catalog than comet hunter Charles Messier. He had both the means and a motive. Countless nights under the sky sharpened his knowledge of the location and appearance of the objects. This was augmented by his mapping skills.

Messier's main motive for assembling his Catalogue seems to be best summed up in his memoir in the journal Connaissance des Temps for 1801. In it he wrote: