Is This Stamp Possibly A 279Be?

It looks like it's from a booklet pane and from the looks of the right side roughness that it could be a 279Be. I am probably totally wrong, but I am very confused with the variations on this issue and any help would be appreciated. For reference this is on a cover dated June 8, 1903 Pueblo Colorado.

Short answer: Booklet, yes. 279Be, no.

Longer answer: The plate layouts for booklets are shown in the intro pages of the booklet section of the Scott Specialized catalog. The 180-subject plate includes a perforated guide line across the center of the plate which falls within the central row of finished panes. The guide lines on the plates for sheet stamps were not perforated, only cut. Thus your stamp showing the perforated guide line can ONLY be from a booklet. Note the line on the lower left perf extends leftward beyond the left edge of the stamp, so the red on the perf tips cannot be from the stamp below, but only from a guide line.

All that said, 279Be is only a sheet format stamp, so yours must be another sub-number. Your choices would be 279Bj (a 360-subject plate, which does not have the guide line fall within the panes) or 279Bk (a-180 subject plate, discussed before). The perforated line proves your single is from a booklet of 279Bk, if I read my catalog correctly.

Add: here are two used pairs straddling the guideline reconstructed into a block, 2/3 of a pane. Yours would obviously correspond to the upper right stamp.

John, thank you. Greatly appreciated.

I realize this specific thread is over a year old, but I've been trying to research my own 279b stamp and came across this topic.

John Becker, you stated that 279Be is a sheet stamp, but Swedish Tiger has the "Be" as a booklet pane. Can you clarify? Thanks!

I used the Scott Specialized catalog. Period.

It would be interestig to see your stamp added to ths thread.

I'll add mine soon, look forward to your input.

John, please review my 279b and let me know your thoughts.

I purchased this as a booklet single, just not sure which booklet it's from

The stamp in the original post has a perforated guideline at the bottom, which using the plate layout diagrams in the introductory pages of the booklet section of the Scott Specialized, confirms it as a stamp from a booklet. The same analysis holds for the 2 used pairs I posted.

Your stamp has no such perforated horizontal guide line, so could be from a booklet or (more likely) from the edge of a pane of 100. The vertical guideline along the left straight-edge can appear on booklets or panes. I cannot tell any more from your image.

John Becker: Would it be possible for the OP to compare his 279B booklet candidate to an actual fully perforated 279B? As I recall, booklet stamps of the era had slightly different dimensions from sheet stamps due to the paper grain being different.

With later booklets, yes, but here there are sheet versions with both vertical and horizontal watermarks: 279Bd and 279Be for example

John ... thanks for clarifying this for me.

This stamp has horizontal watermark. I was skeptical this may be a sheet stamp. Thanks for the input.