[en] The spallation of ¹⁹⁷Au by 800 MeV protons was investigated in inverse kinematics at GSI, Darmstadt, by use of a ¹⁹⁷Au beam bombarding a liquid-hydrogen target. The fragment separator (FRS) was used to select and identify the reaction products prior to β decay. The individual production cross sections and the kinematical properties of 396 isotopes for all elements between mercury (Z=80) and neodymium (Z=60) have been measured. A comparison with Monte Carlo calculations based on different two-step models of the spallation reaction is given. The shape of the isotopic distributions close to the projectile is found to differ strongly from that resulting from aluminium-induced fragmentation of ¹⁹⁷Au. The mean kinetic energies of the fragments are deduced from the experimental data. The importance of the new data to improve our understanding of the spallation mechanism and the relevance for the design of accelerator-driven sub-critical reactors is discussed. (authors)