[en] In the present work we were able to synthesize and measure with high accuracy the production cross sections of more than 190 heavy neutron-rich nuclei by the in-flight fragmentation of relativistic "2"0"8Pb projectiles, 26 of which were produced for the first time. This work has shown that the N = 126 region far below the doubly magic "2"0"8Pb has become accessible experimentally and represents a step further towards the study of heavy neutron-rich nuclei approaching the r-process waiting point at A = 195. (authors)