The first volume of The Lord of the Rings was published in the United Kingdom on 29 July 1954.
That volume was The Fellowship of the Ring, issued by George Allen & Unwin. It was followed by The Two Towers on 11 November 1954 and The Return of the King on 20 October 1955. Although the work is commonly called a trilogy, Tolkien conceived it as one large novel that was divided for publication and practical reasons.
The first volume introduces the discovery of the One Ring, Frodo Baggins’s responsibility, and the formation of the Fellowship. It also establishes the central conflict with Sauron and the journey toward Mount Doom.
The Hobbit had appeared in 1937, but The Lord of the Rings was written for an older audience and developed a much broader history and narrative structure. The United Kingdom dates are sometimes confused with later American editions, which appeared through a separate publishing arrangement.