Here are three files for the Schubert Bb Sonata for piano solo. B has a modern layout philosphy. C. is extreme in its desire for white space. Please note the number of pages for each.
A Breitkopf und Haertel Schubert Complete Works (1888) 30 pages
http://burrito.whatbox.ca:15263/imglnks ... _D_960.pdf
B Creative Commons ed. Karl Paulsson (2011) 51 pages
http://burrito.whatbox.ca:15263/imglnks ... _D_960.pdf
C Muzyka (?) 61 pages
http://javanese.imslp.info/files/imglnk ... D._960.pdf
In the first line of music, A has 5 measures, B has 4 measures, C has 3 measures.
Despite the fact that A is a library edition, it has 11 good page turns out of the 15 turns. I leave it to the reader to decide about B and C.
The Scherzo, a whirlwind of a piece, is a case in point. A places the entire movement on two facing pages, which makes the da capo work beautifully. B places it on 6 pages, writing out the da capo. C engraves it on 5 pages and does not write out the da capo. Again I leave it to the reader to consider the pages turns in B and C and how this would effect a pianist playing from score.
I think that the fluent reader who reads blocks of music at a time would prefer A. There is enough music to digest at a time and one is does not get lost in endless white space and the many pages of this vast piece. I would have preferred 100% good page turns and a fewer measures on some lines in the first and second movements. However, to me, the third and fourth movements have perfect BW balance.
The journeyman reader might prefer B: the less fluent reader, C.
The fact that B is now the popular choice suggests to me that there is a decline in musical literacy.
I think that the emphasis on memorizing piano music is factor in this decline. We now have conservatory students who know only what they have memorized. I believe it was Charles Rosen who described how by the age of 15 he had explored most of the piano repertoire, how this was now almost unknown among serious piano students and what a devastating effect this had on their musical development. They are not exploring music because they are busy memorizing a few pieces for competitions. Of course, that is a different subject. But at least we can produce editions that foster music exploration, not editions that force students to memorize the music to overcome bad page turns and getting lost in page after page of music.
And bad page turns build in latent weaknesses in the initial learning stages that show up later in memorized performances. These can be interpretative as well as technical.