J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was complete in its three-volume edition in 1955.
The volumes appeared over two years: The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954, followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King in 1955. The final volume completed the first publication of the full work.
Tolkien wrote the story as one continuous narrative rather than three unrelated novels. Its division into volumes reflected publishing and practical considerations, including paper shortages in the postwar period. The three-volume structure later became the standard way readers encountered the book.
The 1955 date is sometimes missed because The Fellowship of the Ring is frequently treated as the publication date of The Lord of the Rings. That date is correct for the first volume, but not for the completed three-volume publication. Tolkien continued revising the text in later editions.