Which publisher first issued J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring?

George Allen & Unwin first issued J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring in 1954. It was published in London on 29 July as the first volume of The Lord of the Rings.

The book was followed by The Two Towers in November 1954 and The Return of the King in October 1955. Tolkien preferred the work to appear as one complete novel, but paper shortages and publishing considerations contributed to its release in three volumes. The volumes are parts of one narrative rather than a conventional trilogy with three unrelated plots.

The American edition was published by Houghton Mifflin. Tolkien’s relationship with George Allen & Unwin began with The Hobbit, which the firm published in 1937. The success of that earlier book encouraged the publisher to take on Tolkien’s much longer and more complex sequel.