J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was published in a single-volume edition in 1968.
The work was originally issued in three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954, The Two Towers in 1954, and The Return of the King in 1955. A single-volume edition later made it possible for readers to buy the complete narrative together, rather than as three separately published books.
The 1968 edition is particularly associated with the popularity of the novel in the United States and with the growing cultural impact of Tolkien’s work. The story itself remained one continuous narrative even while its physical publication was divided into volumes.
The publication history can cause confusion because “trilogy” is often used for The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien generally regarded it as one novel in six internal books, not three independent novels. The three-volume format was mainly a publishing arrangement, while the single-volume edition presented the complete story in one physical book.