In textual criticism, the term dispositio refers to the final stage of the editorial work when the critically established text is positioned on the page, together with the critical apparatus.
Usually, the reconstructed text is placed in the upper part of the page, followed by two (or more) apparatus areas: (1) apparatus fontium et locorum parallelorum; (2) critical apparatus in the proper sense (either in its negative or positive version). An illustration of how a critical edition may look like is provided under the entry apparatus.
If different recensions of the same work have been postulated by the editor, their texts are usually given in parallel columns (e.g. Batts 1971), thus providing a synoptic edition.
References
– Batts, Michael S., ed. 1971. Das Nibelungenlied: Paralleldruck der Handschriften A, B, und C, nebst Lesarten der übrigen Handschriften. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
– Luiselli Fadda, Anna Maria. 1994. Tradizioni manoscritte e critica del testo nel Medioevo germanico. Roma: Laterza. || See pp. 246–248.