Lucubrations Books is the name of my online used books business, which has been open for about a year. (check out http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/StoreFrontDisplay?cid=51584275) When I told my hyper-literate sister what I had in mind for a name, there was a long pause on the phone. "Did you consider 'Smith Books'? she said cheerfully.
Well, there is some virtue in uniqueness. Lucubrations, like most technical words, derives from Greek or Latin (the latter in this case). The Latin verb lucubrare means 'to work by lamplight' or figuratively, 'to burn the midnight oil.' Even in the ancient world, it could imply effort carried on without the sense and good judgment of the clear light of day; Cicero used it to describe a rumor as "scarcely worthy of the lucubratio of a group of slave-girls." The Roman equivalent of campfire tales, I guess.
In English, most of the examples the OED cites have a disparaging cast. I'll leave those for you to check out on your own.
I like the name. Although I was filled with a sense of disquiet when a poet acquaintance of mine keep referring to my store as "Lubrications Books." That might well be a more successful business--or it might end up on the skids.
