Sam,
Howdy, it's Roger from Texas where the sun is NOT shining, but hey, it was 80 degrees (ABOVE zero) last week, so we'll take it. It's great that folks close to Ray like you and Patrick have a presence on this board to keep the rest of us up to date, first hand. One degree of separation's not bad.
I've been anticipating the Steadman-illustrated F451 edition since Craig first told me about it at San Diego last summer. I've collected illustrated Steadman books for twenty-some years. In fact, that's how I first met the Vagabond folks, buying Steadman and Bradbury books from them oh those many years ago.
I was a little skeptical, though, when he first mentioned the book to me, because I didn't know if Steadman's style would fit the mood of the book. After thinking about it, I came around, though. Steadman's always been able to subtly adapt his kinetic style to whatever book he's illustrated. He's done a terrific Animal Farm, an award-winning Alice in Wonderland, an amazing Treasure Island and dozens of childrens' books. I got a good look at the illustrations a few weeks ago while visiting the Grahams. There's at least 20 color illustrations and they are spectacular. You can tell with Steadman's work when he's enjoying himself, and he had a blast with these.