J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings first appeared in print in 1954.
The work was published in three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954, followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King in 1955. Tolkien considered it one continuous novel rather than a trilogy, but publication costs encouraged the three-volume format.
The first volume was published in the United Kingdom by George Allen & Unwin on 29 July 1954. The final volume appeared in October 1955, completing the initial publication sequence.
The story follows Frodo Baggins’s attempt to destroy the One Ring, alongside a large cast and an extensive history of Middle-earth. It is sometimes dated simply to 1955 because that was the year the complete three-volume set became available.